Opinion ID: 1059011
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Capital Murder

Text: In his assignment of error 37, Winston states: The trial court erred in not striking the capital murder charges in the face of the prosecution's failure to allege in the indictment essential elements, to prove these essential elements of the crime, and to require the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt each element was established, namely that defendant was over the age of 16, that he was the triggerman, and that he was not mentally retarded. He then argues that the Commonwealth was required to prove six elements: 1) Leon Winston killed Anthony Robinson; and 2) The killing was malicious, willful, deliberate and premeditated; and 3) The killing occurred during the commission of attempted robbery; and 4) Leon Winston was the triggerman; and 5) Leon Winston was over the age of 16; and 6) Leon Winston was not mentally retarded. Winston claims that the Commonwealth's evidence was conflicting concerning whether he was the triggerman and that the Commonwealth failed to prove that he was over the age of 16 and not mentally retarded. Winston urges us to comb through the record to find other arguments he may have made to the trial court throughout the pre-trial and trial process. We will address only those arguments presented in Winston's brief. Rules 5:17, 5:27. Winston has waived the portion of assignment of error 37 regarding the sufficiency of the indictment. We reserve our discussion of the issue of mental retardation for a subsequent portion of this opinion. Here, we address only Winston's contentions that the evidence was insufficient to prove that Winston was the triggerman and that Winston was over the age of 16. The Commonwealth proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Winston was the triggerman in the murders of Anthony and Rhonda Robinson. We have described the evidence proving that Winston was the triggerman in our discussion of whether Winston should have received jury instructions for lesser included offenses. It is unnecessary to repeat it here. Winston's argument that the Commonwealth failed to prove that he was over the age of 16 is without merit. The statutory definition of capital murder, Code § 18.2-31, does not require proof that the defendant is over the age of 16. Therefore, the defendant's age is not an element of the crime. [5] In Thompson v. Oklahoma, 487 U.S. 815, 838, 108 S.Ct. 2687, 101 L.Ed.2d 702 (1988), the Supreme Court held that a person may not be executed for a crime committed before the age of 16. However, Thompson is no bar to conviction of a capital offense. Therefore, the defendant's age is properly raised at sentencing, not during the guilt phase of the trial. At sentencing, Winston's mother testified that Winston was born on July 2, 1980. He was 21 on April 19, 2002, when the offenses were committed. For these reasons, Winston's assignment of error 37 is without merit.