Opinion ID: 2077157
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: [¶ 28] Waterman argues that the court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because, based on the facts presented at trial, the jury could not have rationally concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Waterman committed the two murders. [¶ 29] We review the denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal by viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State to determine whether a jury could rationally have found each element of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Standring, 2008 ME 188, ¶ 12, 960 A.2d 1210, 1212. Circumstantial evidence, even if contradicted by direct evidence, may support a criminal conviction and the proof need not eliminate all alternative explanations of innocence, as long as the record as a whole supports a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Moores, 2009 ME 102, ¶ 10, 982 A.2d 318, 320 (quotation marks omitted); State v. Bates, 2003 ME 67, ¶ 22, 822 A.2d 1129, 1134. [¶ 30] A person is guilty of murder if the person . . . intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another human being. 17-A M.R.S. § 201(1)(A). At trial, it was undisputed that Mayberry and Smith were dead and that their killings were intentionally or knowingly caused. The issue was whether Waterman caused their deaths. [¶ 31] Here, the evidence was sufficient for a jury to have rationally found beyond a reasonable doubt that it was Waterman who murdered Mayberry and Smith. Waterman was angry with Mayberry, and he said that he was going to kill him. Shortly after Mayberry's neighbors heard several gunshots, Waterman's neighbor saw him driving his Jeep home with his headlights off and then heard him shouting, Hurry up, hurry up to someone. The morning after the killings, Waterman went into Mayberry's house to pick up medication and left without calling the police despite seeing many bloodstains. Before anyone discovered the bodies, Waterman asked his wife to say that she sold the Llama .380 and told her that she would see Mayberry on the news. [¶ 32] Furthermore, the bullets recovered from the bodies and the shell casings found at Mayberry's house were fired from the same Llama .380 handgun that Waterman had acquired in late June. The live bullets found at Waterman's home also matched the bullets and casings from the bodies and the house, and the tire impression in Mayberry's driveway matched a specific tire on Waterman's Jeep. [¶ 33] In light of this evidence, the court did not err when it denied Waterman's motions for judgment of acquittal.