Opinion ID: 441742
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence against welden and allison

Text: 80 Appellants Welden and Allison challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to convict them under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(a)(1). To obtain a conviction under the federal kidnapping statute, the Government must prove (1) knowing and willful kidnapping, (2) an intent to gain a benefit from the seizure, and (3) transportation of the victim in interstate or foreign commerce. Hattaway v. United States, 399 F.2d 431, 433 (5th Cir.1968). Appellants do not contest the sufficiency of the Government's evidence proving that a group of men entered the trailer occupied by Pauline Callaway and transported her over the Georgia/Alabama border against her will. Their contention at trial and on appeal is that the evidence was not sufficient to identify them as two of those men. 81 Our review of the evidence is limited to determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could find that the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. United States v. Bell, 678 F.2d 547 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982) (en banc), aff'd on other grounds, 462 U.S. 356, 103 S.Ct. 2398, 76 L.Ed.2d 638 (1983). In our respect for the jury's verdict, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, and we must allow the jury to choose among reasonable constructions of the evidence. Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S.Ct. 457, 469, 86 L.Ed. 680 (1942); Bell, 678 F.2d at 549. Applying these standards, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to find that Welden and Allison participated in the abduction of Pauline Callaway.
82 Pauline Callaway testified that two men wearing masks broke into her trailer in Hooker, Georgia, at around 3:00 a.m. on April 7, shot and killed her boyfriend, and forced her out of her home and into a red and maroon Chevrolet Malibu, which police later found with bloodstains matching Callaway's in the interior. En route to their destination in Alabama, she observed three men inside the car; the two who had removed her from the trailer held her at gunpoint while the third drove. During the ride she heard the two gunmen speak to each other, one calling the other Carlton, Welden's first name. She also noticed the length of her abductors' hair and heard the one named Carlton speak to the others. Having seen and heard appellant Welden on previous occasions speaking with her boyfriend at a local bar, she recognized the voice and hair as Welden's. Based upon her recognition of the hair, name and voice, she positively identified Welden at trial. Dervin Little testified that he loaned the vehicle eventually used in the incident, the Chevrolet Malibu, to Welden at 10:00 p.m. on April 6, approximately five hours before the kidnapping. Patricia Holcomb testified that Welden stopped by her house in the same car at around 5:00 a.m., only two hours after the crime. She also testified that about an hour later, he returned to drive her over to appellant Satterfield's house where Callaway was being held. During the ride, Welden told Holcomb, We might be in a little trouble. Based upon this direct and circumstantial evidence, a jury could very well have concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Welden was guilty of kidnapping Pauline Callaway.
83 The Government's theory of the case placed Allison as the driver of the getaway vehicle. Dervin Little testified that he and Allison were parked in the Malibu at a graveyard on the night of the incident. When Welden switched cars with him in the graveyard at 10:00 p.m., Allison left with Welden in the Malibu. Defense witness Wayne McCarson testified that he saw Allison sitting in the Malibu in Welden's driveway at 11:00 p.m. that same evening. The car was discovered the following morning parked at the State Line Garage, an auto repair shop operated by Allison. 84 Patricia Holcomb testified that when Welden visited her at about 5:00 a.m. on April 7, she saw a man sitting in the driver's seat of Little's car. Although at trial she could not positively identify the man as Allison, she did testify that she told FBI Agent Land the man was Allison when he interviewed her on the afternoon of April 7. After he was arrested on April 11, Allison told the FBI agent that he wanted to make it clear that he was not really a mean man, but he simply had too many people that got him into trouble. 85 In addition to this circumstantial evidence, the Government's case was strengthened by the weakness of Allison's alibi. Three witnesses testified that they were with Allison at Wayne McCarson's house drinking beer on the night of the kidnapping from 12:30 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. One of the witnesses, McCarson, gave inconsistent versions of where he picked up Allison to bring him to his house for the party. He first testified that he met Allison at Welden's house and later indicated that they met at a liquor store. The other two witnesses related events that the jury may have considered implausible. Witnesses Baker and Posey testified that Posey picked up Baker and one other person at their homes at around midnight for the purpose of driving around the area drinking beer. When they drove by McCarson's house at 12:30 a.m. and saw the lights on, they decided to drop in, joining Allison and McCarson until the early morning hours. 86 There was no direct evidence incriminating Allison in the crime. Unlike Welden, Allison was not positively identified by Callaway as one of her abductors. She did testify, however, that the driver of the car had blondish-brown curly hair, a description that is not inconsistent with Allison's appearance. Although each piece of circumstantial evidence, standing alone, would not have been enough to convict Allison, the totality of the evidence against him was sufficient to persuade a jury that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury reasonably could have disbelieved the testimony of his alibi witnesses, and the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to raise a reasonable inference that Allison was involved in the crime.