Opinion ID: 1506841
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Chris Moran's Appeal

Text: Chris Moran attacks his conviction on many fronts. The crux of his complaint is that the state failed to link him to the Rick's Pub robbery in any meaningful way and that the trial justice therefore erred in not granting his motion for judgment of acquittal. We conclude that this contention has merit. The controlling legal standard is familiar. When considering a judgment-of-acquittal motion, we, like the trial justice, are not concerned with the weight of the evidence or the credibility of witnesses. E.g., State v. Smith, 662 A.2d 1171, 1176-77 (R.I. 1995). Rather we view only that evidence that the state claims is capable of supporting guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, drawing from the record all reasonable inferences consistent with the guilt of the accused. E.g., State v. Harrington, 689 A.2d 399, 402 (R.I.1997). The motion should be granted if the evidence so scrutinized fails to establish the accused's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. E.g., State v. Mastracchio, 612 A.2d 698, 706 (R.I.1992). With these legal lamps to light our analysis, we wend our way down the factual path before us. The only colorable evidence presented by the state to link Chris Moran to the holdup consisted of (1) a witness's culling Chris's snapshot out of an array of photos as one that matched the general description of a robber he saw, (2) Chris's presence during the apartment standoff, and (3) the microscopic fibers on his clothes that were similar to the shredded material stashed in the chimney. The state claims this evidence forged an inferential chain sufficient beyond a reasonable doubt to inculpate him in the robbery. We disagree. A criminal conviction may rest entirely upon circumstantial evidence. E.g., In re Derek, 448 A.2d 765, 768 (R.I.1982). But the conviction can stand only if the facts and circumstances considered as a whole constitute proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.; see also State v. Dame, 560 A.2d 330, 334 (R.I.1989) (circumstantial evidence will be found insufficient if it merely raises a suspicion or inference of guilt). The state, of course, has the burden of establishing identity beyond a reasonable doubt. E.g., State v. Maxie, 554 A.2d 1028, 1030 (R.I.1989). Measured against these benchmarks, we conclude that the evidence presented to the jury was insufficient to prove Chris Moran's connection to the robbery beyond a reasonable doubt. The state failed to produce any witnesses who could identify Chris as one of the holdup men responsible for the Rick's Pub robbery. A witness did pick Chris's photo out of an array as one matching a general description of the robber he saw. But he told the police (and later the jury) that he could not positively identify Chris as one of the two bar thieves. And Chris's presence during the apartment standoff does not prove that he was present during the pub's pilfering or in the getaway car. He could have been at Gregg's apartment all night. Or he could have simply arrived there shortly before the police converged on the scene. In any event nary a peep came from him during the police confrontation with Gregg. Nor can the state point to the fiber evidence to make its robbery case against Chris for it is also plausible that he was just standing nearby (or even assisting his brother) while Gregg was shredding the black overcoat he supposedly had worn during the robbery. [11] Because the evidence adduced by the state failed to establish Chris Moran's involvement in the robbery beyond a reasonable doubt, we are of the opinion that his judgment-of-acquittal motion should have been granted.