Opinion ID: 884511
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: issues

Text: ¶ 32 Was there sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict? ¶ 33 We review the sufficiency of the evidence to support a jury verdict to 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. See State v. Licht (1994), 266 Mont. 123, 131, 879 P.2d 670, 675; see also State v. Mergenthaler (1994), 263 Mont. 198, 203, 868 P.2d 560, 562. ¶ 34 The State's information charged Enright with arson pursuant to § 45-6-103(1), MCA, and with deliberate homicide pursuant to § 45-5-102(1)(a), MCA. The statutes require the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Enright purposely or knowingly committed the respective acts of destroying the trailer by fire and causing Leonard's death. Enright contends that the State failed to prove that she acted purposely or knowingly, and that the expert testimony failed to establish an intentional cause of the fire. ¶ 35 However, circumstantial evidence can be sufficient to prove criminal intent, as well as to sustain a conviction. See State v. Bromgard (1993), 261 Mont. 291, 295, 862 P.2d 1140, 1142; State v. Brogan (1993), 261 Mont. 79, 89, 862 P.2d 19, 25-26; State v. Buckingham (1989), 240 Mont. 252, 260, 783 P.2d 1331, 1337; see also § 45-2-103(3), MCA (The existence of a mental state may be inferred from the acts of the accused and the facts and circumstances connected with the offense.). We conclude that in this case, after excluding evidence of the 1995 fire, there was still sufficient evidence to support submission of the State's charges to the jury. Enright purchased six insurance policies which insured Leonard's life during the three months prior to his death, and then denied their existence; Enright and her family and friends moved furniture out of the trailer prior to the fire and then claimed its loss to the insurance company; Leonard's body revealed the presence of multiple sedative drugs; a battery could not be found for the smoke alarm located nearest Enright's bedroom, and the only other smoke alarm in the trailer was located inside a closed kitchen cabinet at the completely opposite end of the trailer; there were no signs of the clean laundry which Enright claimed to have left in the living room; and the fire officials testified that despite Enright's supposedly multiple encounters with and in the burning trailer, they did not smell smoke on her. Finally, there was expert opinion evidence that the fire was intentionally started. ¶ 36 While we recognize that Enright's version of the events suggests, at least in part, a benign explanation for this evidence, the role of fact-finding belongs to the jury. When circumstantial evidence is susceptible of two interpretations, one supporting guilt and the other supporting innocence, the trier of fact determines which is most reasonable. Bromgard, 261 Mont. at 295, 862 P.2d at 1142. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence in this case was sufficient to establish the essential elements of the alleged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. ¶ 37 Therefore, Enright is not entitled to have the charges against her dismissed. However, based on our conclusion that evidence of the 1995 fire was erroneously admitted, and further conclusion that that evidence was prejudicial to the defendant, we vacate the judgment of the District Court and remand to the District Court for a new trial. JAMES C. NELSON, WILLIAM E. HUNT, SR., JIM REGNIER and W. WILLIAM LEAPHART, JJ., concur.