Opinion ID: 1690699
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: second assigned error

Text: In his second assignment of error, Vance argues that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of the charges brought against him. After the prosecution rested, Vance moved for directed verdicts in his favor, which motion was overruled. Vance then adduced no evidence. Upon submission of Vance's case, the jury found Vance guilty of the four charges against him. As we held in Schumacher, 240 Neb. at 186, 480 N.W.2d at 718: In a criminal case a court can direct a verdict only when (1) there is a complete failure of evidence to establish an essential element of the crime charged, or (2) evidence is so doubtful in character, lacking probative value, that a finding of guilt based on such evidence cannot be sustained. Quoting State v. Pierce, 231 Neb. 966, 439 N.W.2d 435 (1989). Accord, State v. Zitterkopf, 236 Neb. 743, 463 N.W.2d 616 (1990); State v. Pettit, 233 Neb. 436, 445 N.W.2d 890 (1989). In determining whether evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction in a jury trial, an appellate court does not resolve conflicts of evidence, pass on credibility of witnesses, evaluate explanations, or reweigh evidence presented to a jury, which are within a jury's province for disposition. A verdict in a criminal case must be sustained if the evidence, viewed and construed most favorably to the State, is sufficient to support that verdict. State v. Fleck, 238 Neb. 446, 447, 471 N.W.2d 132, 134 (1991). Accord, State v. Zitterkopf, supra ; State v. Reynolds, 235 Neb. 662, 457 N.W.2d 405 (1990); State v. Olsan, 231 Neb. 214, 436 N.W.2d 128 (1989). On a claim of insufficiency of evidence, an appellate court will not set aside a guilty verdict in a criminal case where such verdict is supported by relevant evidence. Only where evidence lacks sufficient probative force as a matter of law may an appellate court set aside a guilty verdict as unsupported by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Fleck, 238 Neb. at 447, 471 N.W.2d at 134. Accord, State v. Lonnecker, 237 Neb. 207, 465 N.W.2d 737 (1991); State v. Robertson, 223 Neb. 825, 394 N.W.2d 635 (1986). The facts, construed most favorably to the State, are generally set forth in State v. Schumacher, 240 Neb. 184, 187, 480 N.W.2d 716, 718 (1992): About midnight on April 2, 1990, Schumacher and James Vance appeared at the door of an Omaha home shared by a 21-year-old woman and her fiance. After the woman allowed the pair to enter the house, Schumacher and Vance brandished a firearm and demanded money or drugs. When the couple said they had nothing to hand over, Vance and Schumacher led the woman, at gunpoint, out of the house and into a car, and then drove to a nearby house. Vance took the woman to the house while Schumacher remained with the car. When the door to the house opened, Vance entered, pointed his firearm at the people inside, and demanded drugs from them. A man in the house said he did not have any drugs, but knew where he could get some. Vance then forced the man and the previously seized female victim out of the house at gunpoint, and all three went back to Schumacher and the car. Vance and Schumacher then took their captives to yet another house and, en route, discussed whether they would kill their female victim. When the four arrived, Vance forced the male captive to go up to the front door of the house while Schumacher remained with the woman in the car. In the car, when Schumacher was alone with the woman, he committed first degree forcible sexual assault upon her. The police, who were responding to a call regarding the earlier episode, arrived on the scene. Vance, who was hiding in bushes near the car, ran away. The officers caught Schumacher in the act of assaulting the female victim in the car. Vance was arrested the next day. The evidence against Vance and the evidentiary inferences for the State warranted submission of his case to the jury. Therefore, the district court correctly overruled Vance's request for directed verdicts in his favor. The evidence was more than sufficient for the jury to have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Vance falsely imprisoned both a male and a female victim under terrorizing circumstances and that a firearm was used in the commission of the crimes. Defendant's second assignment of error is without merit. Each of Vance's convictions is affirmed.