Opinion ID: 1254479
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The government presented sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict

Text: Next, Tucker argues that the evidence against him was insufficient to convict him of conspiracy, armed bank robbery, and use of a firearm during an armed bank robbery. Where the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction is challenged, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and will reverse only if no rational trier of fact could have found him guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. DeSilva, 505 F.3d 711, 715 (7th Cir.2007). We do not weigh the evidence or second-guess the jury's credibility determinations. United States v. Gardner, 238 F.3d 878, 879 (7th Cir.2001). The evidence showed that Tucker helped plan the robbery of the Rantoul credit union, carried a gun with him into the credit union on April 24, 2006, and that he had planned and participated in an earlier botched robbery. He was found hiding in the backseat of one of the getaway cars outside the credit union. Tucker maintains that he had nothing to do with the robbery and the government's evidence was insufficient because none of the government's witnesses who placed him at the scene of the crime was credible. It is true that of the government's witnesses (friends and acquaintances of Brad, Clinton, and Seville Williams; officers; victims of the crimes and witnesses of the crime), the only people who testified regarding Tucker's role in the Rantoul robbery were his co-defendants Jefferson, Thomas, Collins and Riley. Tucker points out that these witnesses are all convicted felons with a history of lying, and he contends that their testimony was motivated by their own individual interest. But Tucker had the opportunity to, and actually did, cross-examine these witnesses, and the jury chose to believe them nonetheless. Furthermore, Tucker testified on his own behalf and had the opportunity to convince the jury that his codefendants were lying. Tucker testified that he was driving around Rantoul with Riley when Riley said he had to run to a friend's house. Riley parked the car in an alleyway and walked out of Tucker's view for six minutes. When Riley jogged back to the car, got in, and tried to drive away, police officers surrounded the car and pulled out guns. Tucker jumped into the backseat to avoid being shot and remained there because he did not know what was happening. The jury, after hearing all of the evidence from both sides, found that Tucker participated in the armed robbery. On the evidence in this record, the jury was entitled to reach that conclusion, and we will not disturb the jury's determination on the basis of credibility issues in these circumstances. Cf. United States v. Roberts, 534 F.3d 560, 569 (7th Cir.2008) ([W]e reverse credibility determinations on appeal only under exceptional circumstances, such as where it was physically impossible for the witness to observe that which he claims occurred, or impossible under the laws of nature for the occurrence to have taken place at all.).