Opinion ID: 2382224
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Appellant first claims that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's verdict that he was guilty of first degree murder and attempted rape. When reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, an appellate court must view all the evidence and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as the verdict winner in order to determine whether the evidence was sufficient to enable the finder of fact to find that all of the elements of the offenses were established beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Hall, 549 Pa. 269, 279, 701 A.2d 190, 195 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1082, 118 S.Ct. 1534, 140 L.Ed.2d 684 (1998). After a review of the record, we find the evidence is sufficient to support the first degree murder and attempted rape convictions. The evidence at trial established that on the evening of August 5, 1981, a group of people, including the victim, attended a party in the Borough of Hanover. Even though many of the attendees at the party were underage, large quantities of alcohol and marijuana were consumed. At some point during the evening, a fight erupted and the police were called to the scene. Prior to the arrival of the responding police officers, a group of the partygoers left in two separate vehicles and drove to a local tavern. After consuming more alcohol at the tavern, the group drove to a wooded area outside of Hanover, known as the Pines. Several members of the group departed. At one point, the victim left the remaining members of the group and went into the woods to relieve herself. She was followed by appellant and co-defendant James Frey. Sometime thereafter, witnesses testified that they heard the victim scream. An eyewitness, Larry Tucker, later testified at trial that he had followed appellant into the woods and then watched appellant and the co-defendant grab the victim, throw her to the ground and say to her you give it to everybody else. [5] Appellant was seen shortly thereafter coming out of the woods with blood on his hands. Co-defendant Frey followed several minutes later and the remaining members of the group then left the Pines leaving the victim in the woods. The victim was never seen alive again and her body was found seven weeks later, in a spread eagle position, naked from the waist down with her shirt rolled around her neck, exposing her upper torso. Forensic evidence indicated that the cause of death was a head trauma. No arrest was made for a number of years. Finally, police investigators learned that appellant had been making incriminating statements implicating himself in the murder. Linda Rhinehart testified that she overhead appellant at an arcade in Hanover state to some friends that: I followed her into the woods' cause I was going to get some of that ... She won't be a tease anymore. It's amazing what a tire iron can do to hush someone making that much noise. Cerenna Hughes testified that appellant told her that after the night at the Pines, Cheryl run away and she gave in, she gave up. Harry H. Carper III testified that sometime during 1981, he visited appellant at his home and appellant stated he might have killed Cheryl Smith and that he hit her over the top of her head. Lastly, Janice Small, appellant's wife at the time of the murder, testified that one night in 1981 when Carper was visiting at their residence, she overheard appellant say to Carper I killed a girl.... [We] hit her over the head, dumped her ass in the woods and left her there. She also testified that on one occasion when she was reading a newspaper article about the murder, appellant walked by and said, that's the girl we killed. In order to sustain a conviction for first degree murder, the Commonwealth must prove (1) that the defendant acted with a specific intent to kill; (2) that a human being was unlawfully killed; (3) that the person accused did the killing; and (4) that the killing was done with deliberation. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(d); Commonwealth v. Bronshtein, 547 Pa. 460, 472, 691 A.2d 907, 913 (1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 936, 118 S.Ct. 346, 139 L.Ed.2d 269 (1997). Specific intent to kill can be proven where the defendant knowingly applies deadly force to the person of another. Commonwealth v. Hall, 549 Pa. at 281, 701 A.2d at 196. Death caused by the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victim's body is sufficient to prove the specific intent required for a conviction of first degree murder. Id. Furthermore, all co-conspirators to a murder may be found guilty of first degree murder, regardless of which person actually inflicted the wound which resulted in death. Commonwealth v. Gibson, 547 Pa. 71, 84, 688 A.2d 1152, 1158 (1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 948, 118 S.Ct. 364, 139 L.Ed.2d 284 (1997). Here, the eyewitness accounts, appellant's numerous statements admitting to the killing and forensic evidence amply established appellant's conviction for attempted rape and first degree murder. Appellant claims that since there are inconsistencies between various witnesses' testimony, this Court should find the evidence insufficient to convict appellant. [6] Although appellant phrases this as a sufficiency argument, the challenge goes to the weight of the evidence. Section II, infra. Accordingly, appellant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence must fail.