Opinion ID: 1375314
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: First, the defendant strives to persuade us that the record in this case does not support the verdict of guilty of first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Because this exhortation challenges the sufficiency of evidence to support a jury's verdict, our authority to review is limited. We have not addressed the criminal standard of review concerning the sufficiency of evidence since 1978. Syllabus Point 1 of State v. Starkey, 161 W.Va. 517, 244 S.E.2d 219 (1978), states our rule with respect to such a claim: In a criminal case, a verdict of guilt will not be set aside on the ground that it is contrary to the evidence, where the state's evidence is sufficient to convince impartial minds of the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence is to be viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution. To warrant interference with a verdict of guilt on the ground of insufficiency of evidence, the court must be convinced that the evidence was manifestly inadequate and that consequent injustice has been done. A year after Starkey was decided, the United States Supreme Court in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), [2] articulated, at least linguistically, a different standard of review under the United States Constitution. [3] In a sufficiency of the evidence claim under Jackson, an appellate court, while reviewing the record in the light most favorable to the prosecution, must determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d at 573. (Emphasis in original). After contrasting Starkey and its progeny with the standard of review announced in Jackson, we believe it is desirable to reconcile our differences and to adopt the federal standard of review both as to Jackson generally and as to the standard of review in circumstantial evidence cases. [4] By doing so, however, we continue a highly deferential approach: Appellate courts can reverse only if no rational jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [5] This standard is a strict one; a defendant must meet a heavy burden to gain reversal because a jury verdict will not be overturned lightly. Under the Jackson standard, when reviewing a conviction, we may accept any adequate evidence, including circumstantial evidence, as support for the conviction. It is possible that we, as an appellate court, may have reached a different result if we had sat as jurors. However, under Jackson, it does not matter how we might have interpreted or weighed the evidence. Our function when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, is sufficient to convince a reasonable person of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In adopting Jackson, we necessarily overturn our long established rule that when the State relies upon circumstantial evidence, in whole or in part, for a court to sustain the verdict all other reasonable hypotheses need be excluded by the prosecution save that of guilt. In State v. Noe, 160 W.Va. 10, 15, 230 S.E.2d 826, 829-30 (1976), we stated: [C]ircumstantial evidence will not support a guilty verdict unless the fact of guilt is proved to the exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis of innocence; and circumstances which create a mere suspicion of guilt but do not prove the actual commission of the crime charged, are not sufficient to sustain a conviction. State v. Robinette, 181 W.Va. 400, 383 S.E.2d 32 (1989); State v. Dobbs, 163 W.Va. 630, 259 S.E.2d 829 (1979). In State v. Frasher, 164 W.Va. 572, 265 S.E.2d 43 (1980), however, we recognized the application of this rule is limited to cases where the State relied wholly upon circumstantial evidence. See Syl. pt. 3, State v. McHenry, 93 W.Va. 396, 117 S.E. 143 (1923). However, under Jackson, the mere existence of other reasonable hypotheses is not enough to reverse a jury verdict. This new circumstantial evidence rule that we adopt today originated in Holland v. United States, 348 U.S. 121, 139-40, 75 S.Ct. 127, 137-38, 99 L.Ed. 150, 166 (1954), where the United States Supreme Court stated: The petitioners assail the refusal of the trial judge to instruct that where the Government's evidence is circumstantial it must be such as to exclude every reasonable hypothesis other that that of guilt. There is some support for this type of instruction in the lower court decisions,... but the better rule is that where the jury is properly instructed on the standards for reasonable doubt, such an additional instruction on circumstantial evidence is confusing and incorrect.... Circumstantial evidence in this respect is intrinsically no different from testimonial evidence. Admittedly, circumstantial evidence may in some case point to a wholly incorrect result. Yet this is equally true of testimonial evidence. In both instances, a jury is asked to weigh the chances that the evidence correctly points to guilt against the possibility of inaccuracy or ambiguous inference. In both, the jury must use its experience with people and events in weighing the probabilities. If the jury is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, we can require no more. (Citations omitted). The circumstantial evidence rule of Holland was reaffirmed in Jackson: Only under a theory that the prosecution was under an affirmative duty to rule out every hypothesis except that of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt could this petitioner's challenge be sustained. That theory the Court has rejected in the past.... We decline to adopt it today. 443 U.S. at 326, 99 S.Ct. at 2792-2793, 61 L.Ed.2d at 578. (Citation omitted). Facing the same dilemma, the Supreme Court of Ohio also abandoned the requirement that in circumstantial evidence cases the prosecution's evidence need exclude all other reasonable hypotheses of innocence. In State v. Jenks, 61 Ohio St.3d 259, 272, 574 N.E.2d 492, 502 (1991), [6] relying on the language in Holland, the Ohio court stated: Circumstantial evidence and direct evidence inherently possess the same probative value. In some instances certain facts can only be established by circumstantial evidence. Hence, we can discern no reason to continue the requirement that circumstantial evidence must be irreconcilable with any reasonable theory of an accused's innocence in order to support a finding of guilt. We agree with those courts that have held that an additional instruction on the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence invites confusion and is unwarranted. Since circumstantial evidence and direct evidence are indistinguishable so far as the jury's fact-finding function is concerned, all that is required of the jury is that it weigh all of the evidence, direct and circumstantial, against the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Nothing more should be required of a factfinder. These precedents illuminate our path. We find the logic and analysis of Holland and Jenks to be forceful. Therefore, we hold there should be only one standard of proof in criminal cases and that is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. We start along this route by acknowledging that there is no qualitative difference between direct and circumstantial evidence. [7] Thus, it follows a fortiori that once a proper instruction is given advising the jury as to the State's heavy burden under the guilt beyond a reasonable doubt standard, an additional instruction on circumstantial evidence is no longer required even if the State relies wholly on circumstantial evidence. [8] In summary, a criminal defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction takes on a heavy burden. An appellate court must review all the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, in the light most favorable to the prosecution and must credit all inferences and credibility assessments that the jury might have drawn in favor of the prosecution. The evidence need not be inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilt so long as the jury can find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. As we have cautioned before, appellate review is not a device for this Court to replace a jury's finding with our own conclusion. On review, we will not weigh evidence or determine credibility. [9] Credibility determinations are for a jury and not an appellate court. On appeal, we will not disturb a verdict in a criminal case unless we find that reasonable minds could not have reached the same conclusion. Finally, a jury verdict should be set aside only when the record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighed, from which the jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To the extent that our prior cases are inconsistent with our decision announced today, they are expressly overruled. With the scope of our review thus defined, we move to the defendant's claims. We begin by emphasizing that our review is conducted from a cold appellate transcript and record. For that reason, we must assume that the jury credited all witnesses whose testimony supports the verdict. The essential facts of this casethose that the jury was unquestionably entitled to findare rather simple: The defendant became irritated with the horseplay of the victim; when the victim in jest hit the defendant with a wet dishtowel on his nose, the defendant became angry and drew a four-inch-long lock blade knife from his pocket and stabbed the victim fatally in the neck. After the defendant was confronted with his deed, he made a statement that could be interpreted to mean he was not remorseful but, to the contrary, was unconcerned about the welfare of the victim. [10] In addition to the jury hearing testimony from eyewitnesses to the killing, the defendant confessed. There is no doubt what inferences and findings of fact the jury had to draw in order to convict the defendant of first degree murder. The jury must have believed that: (1) The horseplay provocation was not sufficient to justify a deadly attack; (2) the defendant was under no real fear of his own from being attacked; (3) the stabbing was intentional; and (4) the time it took the defendant to open his knife and inflict the mortal wound was sufficient to establish premeditation. [11] The difficult factual question must have been the mental state of the defendant at the time of the stabbing. The evidence was somewhat conflicting on this point. While the evidence offered by the defendant is not impossible to believe, some of his explanations seem unlikely. Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt cannot be premised on pure conjecture. However, a conjecture consistent with the evidence becomes less and less conjecture and moves gradually toward proof, as alternative innocent explanations are discarded or made less likely. The beyond a reasonable doubt standard does not require the exclusion of every other hypothesis or, for that matter, every other reasonable hypothesis. It is enough if, after considering all the evidence, direct and circumstantial, a reasonable trier of fact could find the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. After reviewing the record, this Court has some doubt as to whether this is a first degree murder case; but, at this point, Jackson's own objective standard turns against the defendant. It makes absolutely no difference whether we on the appellate bench as jurors would have voted to convict the defendant of a lesser-included offense or whether we would have thought there was some reasonable doubt. To the contrary, the question posed by Jackson is whether any rational jury could on the evidence presented think the defendant premeditated and intentionally killed the victim. We do not find the evidence so weak as to render the verdict irrational. A rational jury may well have found the defendant guilty of some lesser-included crime without violating its oath; but, drawing all favorable inferences in favor of the prosecution, a rational jury could also convict. We end by suggesting that variations in human experience suggest it is not unexpected to see a considerable range of reasonable verdicts or estimates about what is likely or unlikely. Thus, we find the evidence sufficient under either the Jackson or the Starkey standard. B.