Opinion ID: 2285148
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: This claim of appellant is quickly disposed of on the instant record. The test for sufficiency of the evidence is whether accepting as true all of the evidence reviewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, together with all reasonable inferences therefrom, the trier of fact could have found that each element of the offenses charged was supported by evidence and inferences sufficient in law to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Ransome, 485 Pa. 490, 402 A.2d 1379 (1979); Commonwealth v. Sadusky, 484 Pa. 388, 399 A.2d 347 (1979) citing Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 472 Pa. 129, 149-150, 371 A.2d 468, 478 (1977). See also, Commonwealth v. Horton, 485 Pa. 115, 401 A.2d 320 (1979); Commonwealth v. Toney, 474 Pa. 243, 378 A.2d 310 (1977); Commonwealth v. Rose, 463 Pa. 264, 344 A.2d 824 (1975). Moreover, a claim of insufficiency of the evidence will not be assessed on a diminished record, but rather on the evidence actually presented to the finder of fact rendering the questioned verdict. Commonwealth v. Cohen, 489 Pa. 167, 413 A.2d 1066 (1980); Commonwealth v. Kuebler, 484 Pa. 358, 361 n.[], 399 A.2d 116, 117 n.[] (1979); Commonwealth v. Tabb, 417 Pa. 13, 16, 207 A.2d 884, 886 (1965). Here there is little question that the Commonwealth produced ample evidence for a finder of fact to conclude that the premises at 748 S. 51st Street had been burglarized and that there was a theft of its contents. Appellant does not challenge the proof of the fact of the burglary or the theft but rather focuses upon the evidence offered to establish his participation. Appellant characterizes the evidence in this regard as merely establishing appellant's presence with two men, one of whom who possessed stolen property, not visible to appellant, which had been taken in a burglary committed sometime earlier that day, and appellant's possession of a hat which was similar to one taken in that burglary. Appellant takes too narrow a view of the Commonwealth's evidence presented to establish his guilt. At trial Mr. Bennett testified the hat as having been taken from a bureau drawer in his dining room. That the hat merely resembled a hat taken from the house during the burglary was an inference that the defense urged the fact finder to draw. However, the fact finder was obviously free to accept Mr. Bennett's positive statement that the hat was in fact the one removed from the house. That one of appellant's companions also had on his person property definitely identified as being taken during the same burglary provides a basis for finding the two men as being co-participants. It unquestionably refutes the defense's charge that the evidence did not establish any relationship between him and the other two males he was standing with when approached by Officer McCoy. The condition of the shoes of the trio was consistent with having traversed the area between the burglarized home and the vacant property. The fact that the evidence establishing a defendant's participation in a crime is circumstantial does not preclude a conviction where the evidence coupled with the reasonable inferences drawn therefrom overcomes the presumption of innocence. Commonwealth v. Sullivan, supra ; Commonwealth v. Farquharson, 467 Pa. 50, 354 A.2d 545 (1976); Commonwealth v. Cox, 466 Pa. 582, 353 A.2d 844 (1976); Commonwealth v. Petrisko, 442 Pa. 575, 580, 275 A.2d 46, 49 (1971). See also, Commonwealth v. Tinsley, 465 Pa. 329, 350 A.2d 791 (1976); Commonwealth v. McIntyre, 451 Pa. 42, 47, 301 A.2d 832, 834 (1973). We are satisfied that the possession of the fruits of the burglary found on the appellant and his companions within a block and a half from the situs of the crime, with his clothing and that of his companions in a condition compatible with a recent visit to the scene of the crime, within a half an hour of the discovery of the crime supports a finding of guilt. Thus the sufficiency of the evidence claim may properly be dismissed as being without substance.