Opinion ID: 753665
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 6 In our review of a claim challenging the sufficiency of evidence, we determine  'whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt,'  Wingfield v. Massie, 122 F.3d 1329, 1332 (10th Cir.1997) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)), cert. denied, 66 U.S.L.W. 3474 (U.S. Mar. 9, 1998) (No. 97-1140), looking to state law for the substantive elements of the relevant criminal offense, id. (quoting Jackson, 443 U.S. at 324 n. 16). This standard 'gives full play to the responsibility of the trier of fact fairly to resolve conflicts in the testimony, to weigh the evidence, and to draw reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts.'  Id. (quoting Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319). We note that Kansas law does not allow a jury to find an element of a crime from inferences based only on inferences. Kelly v. Roberts, 998 F.2d 802, 809 (10th Cir.1993) (citing State v. Burton, 235 Kan. 472, 681 P.2d 646, 651 (Kan.1984)). 7 The record in this case contains sufficient evidence to sustain a felony murder conviction, under Kansas law, based on the commission of an aggravated robbery 4 resulting in the death of Ms. Woody. 5 The prosecution presented evidence at trial tending to show that an aggravated robbery had taken place: (1) Ms. Woody's death by gunshot; (2) the finding of her purse behind the passenger seat in her car with the billfold and other contents strewn about the right rear floorboard; and (3) the absence of money in her car, though she had cashed a $500.00 check on the day of her death. 8 Predominately circumstantial evidence linked petitioner to the crime. Wimberly v. McKune, 963 F.Supp. at 1027 (quoting State v. Wimberly, 787 P.2d at 733). Experts in fingerprinting testified that petitioner's prints were on receipts, dated January 10, and May 6, 1981, found inside Ms. Woody's billfold, and also on a shoebox and tissue package found in the front seat. Six of Mrs. Woody's close friends were called to state that they had never seen petitioner in her company or heard her speak of him. A witness testified that he had seen a handgun in petitioner's car about a year earlier. Finally, a witness who worked near the crime scene testified that petitioner had been in the witness's office on the day of Ms. Woody's death. Petitioner did not testify. 6 9 As the district court properly concluded, [t]his circumstantial evidence is sufficient to support the jury's verdict, in that a rational factfinder could have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Wimberly's fingerprints were placed on the receipts and other items in the victim's car at the time of the commission of the crime. Wimberly v. McKune, 963 F.Supp. at 1028. Contrary to petitioner's argument, the holding of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Mikes v. Borg, 947 F.2d 353, 361 (9th Cir.1991) does not affect the analysis. 10 In that case, which rested exclusively on evidence that defendant's prints were among those found on the post used as the murder weapon, id. at 355, the court held that the record must contain sufficient evidence to permit a jury, applying the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, to draw the inference that the defendant touched the object during the commission of the crime, id. at 361. Here, petitioner's prints showed that he had handled items of the victim's property which were highly unlikely to have been available to him before the robbery. Moreover, there was additional corroborating evidence of his involvement.