Opinion ID: 1119095
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Whether there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's guilty verdict.

Text: We address this subject despite it not being raised as an issue on appeal, because our dissenting colleague, Justice Springer, concludes that the evidence was insufficient to support Simmons' conviction. We first note, as discussed in some detail in footnote 2, that our colleague seriously errs in concluding that this case stands or falls on the testimony of Mike O.. The dissent has simply failed to recognize the corroborating testimony of Dan and Michael B. The combined testimony of these three witnesses alone would constitute sufficient evidence upon which to base a conviction. [5] The dissent states that Simmons' younger sister testified that on the morning of the murder she saw Simmons, once at 12:30 a.m. and once at 1:30 a.m. The dissent thus concludes that if Cheryl's story could be accepted, there is no way that Simmons could have driven 30 miles round trip to commit the killing. Unfortunately, the dissent overlooks the fact that Cheryl gave four different versions of her observation of her brother. Justice Springer adopts only the fourth version, a scenario obviously deemed incredible by the jury. Cheryl's first story was that she did not get up at all on the night of February 23rd. Thus, under this version, she could not possibly have seen Simmons at any time relevant to the murder of Jason Kopack. During cross-examination, Cheryl related her second and third versions, which included an admission that she had told a friend that she got up at 2:00 a.m. to get something to eat. The sister then stated that she saw her brother at 1:30 a.m., a rather interesting accomplishment if she did not arise until 2:00 a.m. Thereafter, on re-direct, Cheryl delivered her fourth story of the night's events, namely that she was up at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. and saw Simmons on both occasions. The dissent adopted the fourth and final version. In addition to the clear inconsistencies in Cheryl's testimony, the jury may not have been impressed with the thirteen-year-old's story about getting up to put her hamster in the den, and then later arising to get a drink of water, rather than something to eat as earlier stated. It is noted that this was also a school night. In any event, we are unaware of any appellate principle that would permit this court, from the cold record, to elect to disregard the factual findings of the jury in favor of our own. Our dissenting colleague is also troubled by the fact that David Kopack, Jason's father, and a Vietnam veteran, testified that on the night of the murder he was awakened at 1:23 a.m. by a loud noise which he thought may have been a cat jumping on the roof of the shed next to his bedroom window, or perhaps something else blowing against the shed. Our colleague postulates that a shotgun blast should have been heard by everyone living in such a small place. Noting first that Mr. Kopack was sleeping when he heard the noise, it does not appear to be at all unusual that he could not identify the precise noise that awakened him. In any event, the jury could easily have concluded that anyone aroused from a sound sleep by a noise, would have difficulty identifying the precise nature of the sound while in a groggy and confused state of awakening. Moreover, the dissent notes that after being awakened by the noise, the father walked out into the living room and did not detect the odor of gunpowder. At no time did David Kopack testify that he walked into the living room after being awakened by the noise. At best, his testimony was unclear as to whether he even left his bedroom. He did look out his bedroom window after hearing the noise, but indicated that he did not know whether he went to the front door. Since there was a curtain between the bedroom and the rest of the trailer, that alone may have accounted for Mr. Kopack's failure to smell an odor of gunpowder. [6] The dissent also views the failure of Sonja Sacks to see tire tracks in the snow in the area of the school where Simmons assertedly parked his mother's car as another basis for concluding that Simmons did not commit the murder. Aside from the fact that Sacks left for work between 4:45 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., when it would have been dark, and that differing intensity of the snow storm could have resulted in tracks left in a light snow that were covered up by a heavier snow, there are other compelling reasons not to credit this aspect of the evidence with the degree of importance attached by the dissenting justice. Ms. Sacks testified that there were two other roads leading to the elementary school where Simmons said he parked his mother's car. She admitted that she would not have seen the tire tracks if Simmons had traveled either of the other two streets and parked in the area of the school. Indeed, Ms. Sacks testified that Como road is so close to the elementary school that you could park on the street and walk to the school. The jury could have easily concluded that Simmons' tire tracks were either covered by an incoming heavier snow, or that Simmons took one of the other two streets untraveled by Sacks to arrive at a parking place near the area of the school. The dissent observes that Simmons' father testified that when he woke up in the morning of the murder, there were no tracks behind either of the two Simmons' cars, and both cars had an equal amount of snow on them. This testimony would tend to undermine the testimony of Mike O. indicating that Simmons told him that he used his mother's car the night of the murder. However, Mike O. also testified that Simmons had told him that he had a little Toyota, but that Mike O. had never seen Simmons drive that car. Thus, Simmons may have driven another car to commit the murder. In any event, the jury could either have disbelieved Mike O. on the testimony concerning the mother's car or may have concluded that Simmons deliberately misled Mike O. with respect to the car he used. The unclear state of the record in this aspect of the evidence is certainly no basis for impeaching the jury's findings. Moreover, the strong corroboration of the evidence supplied by the testimony of Dan and Michael B. must not be minimized. The dissenting justice does highlight an aspect of Jason's murder that has found no satisfactory answer. The area outside the Kopack's trailer revealed footprints in the snow leading into, but not away from, the trailer. Unless Simmons simply retraced his steps, one would be forced to concede the difficulty in explaining the lack of footprints leaving the trailer absent evidence that the perpetrator remained in the trailer. In the latter case, however, only Jason's father David Kopack would be a suspect in the homicide, a proposition that neither the police, the prosecution, the defense nor the dissenting justice adopts as a viable theory. Moreover, the evidence against Simmons included a pair of wet tennis shoes found in the Simmons' home the next day, and it was determined that the tread of those shoes matched the tread of the footprints seen in the snow outside the Kopack's trailer. The dissent next focuses upon the 20-gauge shotgun found in the Simmons' residence, but fails to mention, among his concerns about the weapon, that both Simmons' mother and father testified that the shotgun kept in their closet had not been fired for years. This testimony is highly relevant because investigator Arndell testified that the shotgun found in the Simmons' closet smelled like it had been recently fired. [7] Our dissenting colleague emphasizes, however, that the victim was killed by a Federal factory-loaded, 20-gauge shell as demonstrated by the shell was removed from Jason's body. The pellets found in the victim's body were size 6. The expended shell in the shotgun recovered from Simmons' home was a Federal factory shell that would have contained size 6 pellets. Dr. Atkinson, the criminalist from the Washoe County Sheriff's Office testified that the wadding and the pellets found in Jason's body were consistent with having come from the expended Federal shell in the Simmons' shotgun. However, the dissent notes that the Federal factory-loaded was found in the victim should have been fired from a Federal shell that contained a Federal primer. Both State and defense experts agreed that the primer found in the expended shell contained within the chamber of the Simmons' shotgun was not a Federal primer. Moreover, a defense expert testified that he did not believe that a primer could come out of a Federal factory-loaded shell and be replaced with a non-factory (non-Federal) primer. Based upon the foregoing, our dissenting colleague concludes that the shell in the gun found in the Simmons' closet was not the one that killed Jason. The problem with our colleague's conclusion is that he limits his analysis to the testimony of the defense expert. Prosecution expert Arndell testified that primers can come out of a factory-loaded shell; prosecution investigator Thompson testified that she has seen primers fall out of factory-made shells. Importantly, Arndell also testified that if you are lucky enough to have primers, you just shove another primer in there and shoot it again. Based upon the expert testimony of the State's witnesses, the jury could have concluded that Simmons removed the Federal, factory primer, and replaced it with a non-Federal primer. Our colleague has disregarded the conflicting testimony and simply concluded, as a fact found on appeal, that the primer was not switched and could not have been switched, thus giving total credence to the defense expert at the total exclusion of the State's expert witnesses. We have considered all other issues raised on appeal and conclude that they are meritless and need not be addressed.