Opinion ID: 1940200
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: This Court must review the record of a death penalty case to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the murder conviction. See Fla. R.App. P. 9.140(i); Davis v. State, 859 So.2d 465, 480 (Fla.2003). In conducting this review, the Court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Bradley v. State, 787 So.2d 732, 738 (Fla.2001); see McCoy v. State, 853 So.2d 396, 408 (Fla.2003). Weaver waived his Miranda [22] rights and told detectives that he was the person who shot Officer Peney and did a walk-through of the crime scene where he re-enacted for detectives how he shot Officer Peney. The bullet that struck Officer Peney was from a .357. Weaver identified the .357 as his weapon. An expert in wound ballistics and a firearms examiner testified that the bullet wounds suffered by Officer Peney were consistent with a .357 bullet. A DNA specialist testified that the blood found on the .357 bullet matched Officer Peney's DNA. The frequency of finding someone with the exact DNA profile was roughly 1 in 229 million. Officer Myers testified that he saw Weaver turn and fire a shot from his weapon. Various eyewitnesses confirmed his testimony. Therefore, we conclude that competent, substantial evidence supports the verdict.