Opinion ID: 1811483
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the evidence presented a trial was insufficient to support the jury's verdict.

Text: ¶ 8. In this first issue on appeal, Minor argues that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict. Specifically, he alleges that since (1) he provided a D.N.A. sample which did not match either the hair found in the car or saliva found on the cigarettes, (2) there was no blood found on the seized coat or pants which matched Blank's blood, and (3) there was no direct link between the bullets found in the coat pocket and the bullet shells found in the car, then there was no direct physical evidence that Minor had committed the murder. Furthermore, Kimberly Rawlings testified that she saw Blank's car moving slowly down East Wilderness Road after the time the State alleged that Blank was murdered, indicating that Minor did not kill Blank. The State responds that questions of witness credibility are to be resolved by the jury, and the previously described evidence supports the verdict. ¶9. The State's submission that this verdict is supported by circumstantial evidence overlooks the fact that direct evidence exists in the record to support Minor's conviction. Specifically, an admission of culpability by a defendant to a third party who is not a law enforcement officer constitutes direct evidence of a crime. Ladner v. State, 584 So.2d 743, 750 (Miss. 1991). We find Minor's statement to the card players that night shortly after the murder meets this criteria. Therefore, we shall employ the standard ordinarily used in cases where direct evidence was provided to the jury. This Court recently reiterated the standard it employs when considering a challenge of the sufficiency of the evidence: When on appeal one convicted of a criminal offense challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence, our authority to interfere with the jury's verdict is quite limited. We proceed by considering all of the evidencenot just that supporting the case for the prosecutionin the light most consistent with the verdict. We give the prosecution the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. If the facts and inferences so considered point in favor of the accused with sufficient force that reasonable men could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty, reversal and discharge are required. On the other hand, if there is in the record substantial evidence of such quality and weight that, having in mind the beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof standard, reasonable and fairminded jurors in the exercise of impartial judgment might have reached different conclusions, the verdict of guilty is thus placed beyond our authority to disturb. Turner v. State, 818 So.2d 1181, 1184 (Miss.2002) (quoting Smith v. State, 802 So.2d 82, 85 (Miss.2001)). ¶ 10. We conclude that this first issue is without merit. As summarized above, the evidence presented at trial, weighs greatly in favor of the jury's verdict. Minor told the witnesses playing cards at the fish fry that he 4:30'd, or killed, Anna Blank. He created the opportunity to kill her and was absent from the house at approximately the time she was shot. The bullets found in his coat pocket were of the same caliber and name brand as the shells found in Blank's car. The bullets removed from Blank's body were of the same caliber as the bullets found in Minor's possession. The coat was found in his room. He either hid or destroyed his gun, and he attempted to cover his tracks after the murder by coaxing friends to lie for him. He also had a motive to kill Blank. At the very least, reasonable and fairminded jurors, in the exercise of their judgment, could disagree whether these facts proved that Minor murdered Blank. Therefore, we find there is sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict.