Opinion ID: 2078760
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Hadley contends the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the jury's determination that he poisoned his mother. He claims the credible evidence shows merely a nonexclusive opportunity to commit the crime, together with a suspicion among family members that Hadley was the killer. Hadley also claims that the prosecution failed to prove that he possessed the requisite intent to commit murder because the evidence showed he was non compos mentis. He concedes that this Court will neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, except where the evidence most favorable to the State is so devoid of probative evidence as to preclude a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Liston v. State (1969), 252 Ind. 502, 250 N.E.2d 739. A verdict will be upheld if the evidence and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, as viewed most favorable to the State, establish the existence of each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Fordyce v. State (1981), Ind., 425 N.E.2d 108. Hadley urges the Court to discard testimony about his alleged confessions to a jail officer and to a former cellmate because they are inherently incredible. The jail officer waited more than two months to report the confession which Hadley allegedly made while being transported to a doctor's office. The former cellmate had previously revealed jailhouse confessions in return for judicial leniency and the charges pending against the cellmate at the time of Hadley's trial were dismissed in exchange for his testimony about Hadley's alleged confession. Nevertheless, defense counsel had ample opportunity to reveal any questionable aspects of the testimony during cross-examination. The challenged veracity of the witnesses was a matter for the jury to weigh; it did not bar admission of the testimony. Even without the testimony about Hadley's confessions, sufficient evidence existed to convict him of murder. Several employees of a Kokomo drug store testified that they saw Hadley purchase a total of six yellow bottles of a colorless, liquid ant poison during three shopping expeditions in February and early March of 1983. They said Hadley attempted to conceal the label of the ant poison bottles when he paid for them. The ant poison contained arsenic. Hadley's father saw Hadley try to conceal a yellow can at their home. Soon after the poison purchase, Hadley's parents became ill. He was the only person in the home who remained unaffected. Hadley argues that the fatal dose of arsenic probably came in the bottle of distilled water which Mrs. Hadley requested from her hospital bed. He notes that his brother, Isaac, delivered the bottle to their mother. Notwithstanding appellant's attempt to blame his brother, the test of the sufficiency of the evidence in a homicide prosecution is not whether someone else could have committed the crime. Instead, where the evidence is circumstantial, the reviewing court need find only that the jury could draw from the evidence an inference reasonably tending to support the finding of guilt of the defendant. McCraney v. State (1983), Ind., 447 N.E.2d 589. This standard was met. Conjecture about uncharged potential suspects simply is not enough to overturn a jury verdict. Equally unpersuasive is Hadley's argument that the prosecution failed to prove intent. The State used evidence of Hadley's strange behavior and beliefs (he often called his parents and siblings impostors and aliens) to establish a motive for the poisoning. Existence of a motive for homicide may provide the basis for an inference of intent. German v. State (1975), 166 Ind. App. 370, 337 N.E.2d 883. Hadley argues that evidence of his delusions showed he was non compos mentis and therefore incapable of forming the necessary intent. [1] To convict a person of murder, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly or intentionally killed another human being. Bixler v. State (1984), Ind., 471 N.E.2d 1093, cert. den., ___ U.S. ___, 106 S.Ct. 106, 88 L.Ed.2d 86. Appellant cites two recent cases in which we explained that one who is non compos mentis cannot form intent to commit a crime. Sills v. State (1984), Ind., 463 N.E.2d 228; Terry v. State (1984), Ind., 465 N.E.2d 1085. These cases provide little support for Hadley's position because both involve intoxication defenses. Furthermore, in Terry v. State , we held that a person would not be relieved of responsibility for his actions when he was able to devise a plan, operate equipment, instruct the behavior of others or carry out acts requiring physical skill. Id., 465 N.E.2d at 1088. Hadley was employed full-time at the time of his parent's death. He was alert enough to buy poison which would not be detected without laboratory tests. He was conscious enough of his illegal conduct to try to conceal the poison at the time of purchase. He subsequently implemented a devious plan to kill his parents. His intent to murder his mother  as well as his father  was painfully clear. A non compos mentis argument is not properly raised in this context. The evidence was sufficient to support the jury's determination that all elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt.