Opinion ID: 1710265
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: A. Scope of review. McPhillips claims the trial court erred in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal based on the insufficiency of the evidence. We will uphold the district court's denial of a motion for judgment of acquittal if there is substantial evidence in the record to support the defendant's conviction. See State v. Rojas-Cardona, 503 N.W.2d 591, 594 (Iowa 1993), overruled by State v. Hogrefe, 557 N.W.2d 871, 879 (Iowa 1996) (overruling on issue of what evidence can prove deception). Evidence is substantial if it would convince a rational factfinder that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Mitchell, 568 N.W.2d 493, 502 (Iowa 1997). In deciding whether the evidence is substantial, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and make all reasonable inferences that may fairly be drawn from the evidence. See State v. Romeo, 542 N.W.2d 543, 545 (Iowa 1996). Inherent in our standard of review of jury verdicts in criminal cases is the recognition that the jury was free to reject certain evidence, and credit other evidence. State v. Anderson, 517 N.W.2d 208, 211 (Iowa 1994). Consequently, unless we conclude the record lacks substantial evidence, we are bound by the jury's finding of guilt. Romeo, 542 N.W.2d at 545. We review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence on assigned error. See State v. Phams, 342 N.W.2d 792, 795 (Iowa 1983). Here, McPhillips does not focus on a lack of evidence in support of a particular element of the offenses of which he was convicted; rather, he argues no reasonable fact finder could have found the State's primary witness, Scott Haines, credible. McPhillips argues that, without Haines' testimony, the record lacks sufficient evidence to support any element of the crimes McPhillips was found to have committed. We do not reach the second step in McPhillips' analysis because we conclude a reasonable fact finder could have found Haines believable. B. Analysis of Haines' credibility. Haines testified at trial that he and defendant were high on drugs and alcohol in the early hours of September 11, 1995. They decided to drive to Winterset in Haines' car to steal drugs from Danny Stark, from whom Haines had previously purchased drugs. Haines and McPhillips entered Stark's home through the back door and proceeded to Stark's bedroom. Haines wore jeans and had a Hamm's beer box over his head; McPhillips wore a red bandanna and a trench coat to hide a shotgun he held underneath the coat. Haines testified he heard McPhillips hit Stark and Stark cry out in pain. Haines took a military-type rifle from Stark's closet and some drugs. He and McPhillips then left Stark's house. Haines testified the stolen rifle was eventually put in the trunk of McPhillips' car, wrapped in a blanket. He also informed the jury that he remembered McPhillips later selling the shotgun used in the burglary to Barb Watkins. Haines admitted he pled guilty to third-degree theft in order to get a lower sentence, and that as part of the plea agreement, he promised to testify in McPhillips' criminal trial. Haines' testimony was corroborated by testimony from other witnesses. Stark testified that he awoke in the early morning hours of September 11, 1995, when he was hit in the mouth with a shotgun. Although the lights were off, he saw two intruders, one wearing a twelve-pack beer box over his head and standing in the hallway, and the other wearing a long coat and bandanna and holding a shotgun. The man with the gun hit Stark in the eye, asked him where his drugs were, and then made him roll over onto his stomach. The same man then hit Stark in the back of the neck with the shotgun, opening a bleeding gash. While Stark was lying on his stomach, the intruders turned on the light and searched his room. They left when Stark's mother made some noise on an upper floor of the house. After the intruders left, Stark discovered an old military rifle had been taken from his room. Stark's mother also testified at trial. She was awakened the night of the burglary by the sound of a door opening. Upon investigating, she saw two men leave the house. One man wore a long coat and carried a gun over his shoulder. The second man wore jeans. Officer Stout of the Winterset police department testified that the police found the stolen military rifle wrapped in a blanket in the trunk of McPhillips' car. Another officer testified that the police recovered an empty Hamm's twelve-pack container and a red bandanna from the trunk of Haines' car, and a long trench coat from the apartment shared by McPhillips and Haines. He also stated they obtained a shotgun from Barb Watkins who had purchased it from McPhillips. Tests confirmed that blood found on the shotgun matched the victim's blood. Barb Watkins testified that Haines and McPhillips were at her apartment late on the evening of September 10, 1995. Both men had been drinking and using methamphetamine. Shortly after midnight they left together in Haines' car. Watkins also testified that she bought a shotgun from McPhillips in August or September of 1995, and that she had not taken it out of its case from the time she purchased it until it was seized by the police. McPhillips argues Haines' testimony is unbelievable because (1) Haines testified under a plea agreement, (2) Haines initially lied to the police about whether he had used methamphetamine on the night of the burglary and whether they had stolen methamphetamine from Stark's house, (3) Haines regularly used methamphetamine and was under the influence of that drug at the time of the crime, and (4) Haines' testimony was self-serving. McPhillips argues Haines could have put the crime-related evidence in the trunk of McPhillips' car because the trunk did not lock, and Haines had ready access to McPhillips' shotgun and could have borrowed it for the burglary. We rejected a similar sufficiency-of-the-evidence claim in the Romeo case. 542 N.W.2d at 549-50. In that case, the incriminating testimony of two accomplices was instrumental in the defendant's conviction. Id. We held it was for the jury to determine whether the witnesses were credible in light of their plea agreement with the State and the inconsistencies in their testimony. Id. We noted their testimony was supported by other evidence introduced at trial. Id. Likewise, Haines' credibility was also for the jury to determine. As a review of the record shows, his testimony was consistent with that of the other witnesses and with the physical evidence recovered by the authorities. The trial court did not err in overruling the defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal.