Opinion ID: 2394474
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: In all capital cases, we review evidentiary sufficiency. To establish the offense of first-degree murder, the Commonwealth must prove the fact of the killing, the defendant's involvement, and malice and specific intent to kill on the part of the defendant. See Commonwealth v. Collins, 550 Pa. 46, 50, 703 A.2d 418, 420 (1997). Further, specific intent to kill can be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victim's body. See Commonwealth v. Speight, 544 Pa. 451, 459, 677 A.2d 317, 321 (1996). In this assessment, the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, as the verdict winner. See Speight, 544 Pa. at 459, 677 A.2d at 321. Here, the evidence offered at trial is plainly sufficient to support the first-degree murder conviction. For example, the testimony of Kinney, Mobley, and the hack driver implicated Appellant as the killer. All related that Appellant chased the victim, and Mobley testified that, after hearing several gunshots, he saw Appellant standing over the victim. Further, Kinney and Mobley indicated, in substance, that after the killing, Appellant confessed to having shot the victim. While, as noted, there were inconsistencies among these witnesses with regard to some of the details, and their involvement in the events may have been a factor to be evaluated in judging their credibility, such matters were properly committed to the jurors for resolution. The manner in which the victim was killed (two gunshot wounds to his back, one of which penetrated his heart) constitutes circumstantial evidence of malice and specific intent to kill on Appellant's part, and various aspects of subsequent conduct on Appellant's part, including his flight and threats directed to a witness, evidence his consciousness of guilt. Concerning his death sentence, Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the Section 9711(d)(9) aggravating factor. [3] Although Appellant does not contend that his juvenile robberies were not felony matters, see 18 Pa.C.S. § 3701 (prescribing felony grading for robbery), he argues that they were graded below first-degree felonies, and, therefore, do not rise to the level of a significant history of violent felonies for purposes of the (d)(9) aggravator. Appellant acknowledges this Court's precedent holding that a juvenile adjudication may be considered as a conviction for purposes of establishing that a defendant has a significant history of felony convictions pursuant to the (d)(9) aggravating factor. See Commonwealth v. Baker, 531 Pa. 541, 565-68, 614 A.2d 663, 675-76 (1992). Appellant, however, emphasizes that the defendant's juvenile record in Baker indicated that he had one robbery and five burglary adjudications. See Baker, 531 Pa. at 564-65, 614 A.2d at 675. Appellant argues that, in contrast, he has only two juvenile adjudications. In addition, Appellant attempts to distinguish two prior adult convictions for robbery, which this Court has held to be sufficient evidence in Commonwealth v. Hill, 542 Pa. 291, 315, 666 A.2d 642, 654 (1995), from his two juvenile robbery adjudications, which he suggests should be regarded as less probative. In light of this Court's prior holdings, Appellant's argument goes to the weight, and not to the sufficiency, of the evidence. Since, under Baker, juvenile adjudications are convictions for purposes of the (d)(9) aggravator, and, under Hill, two convictions for violent felonies are sufficient to implicate a jury issue, we conclude that the evidence offered by the Commonwealth was sufficient to support the (d)(9) aggravator. Accord Hill, 542 Pa. at 315, 666 A.2d at 654 (observing that it was solely within the province of the jury to determine whether [the appellant's] two prior convictions for robbery served as a sufficient basis to conclude that she had a significant history of felony convictions). [4]