Opinion ID: 1242733
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Evidence Seized From Cheng's Vehicle

Text: Cheng claims that the trial court erred in admitting the evidence seized from his jeep two days after Liu's body was discovered. Cheng asserts that without proof of how and when the vehicle got to where it was found, of when the items were placed in the vehicle, and of any other `links' in the chain of evidence, the admission of the items was improper in violation of the rule of Stover v. Commonwealth, 222 Va. 618, 283 S.E.2d 194 (1981), and Bishop v. Commonwealth, 227 Va. 164, 313 S.E.2d 390 (1984). We do not agree. Cheng's reliance upon Stover and Bishop is misplaced. Those cases set forth the standards of proof required to support a criminal conviction when the evidence is wholly circumstantial. They do not address the admissibility of evidence. [E]very fact, however remote or insignificant, that tends to establish a probability or improbability of a fact in issue is admissible. Stamper v. Commonwealth, 220 Va. 260, 269, 257 S.E.2d 808, 815 (1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 972, 100 S.Ct. 1666, 64 L.Ed.2d 249 (1980). Of course, the weight to be given such circumstantial evidence is an issue for the jury. Rees v. Commonwealth, 203 Va. 850, 869, 127 S.E.2d 406, 419 (1962), cert. denied, 372 U.S. 964, 83 S.Ct. 1088, 10 L.Ed.2d 128 (1963). The seized items tended to connect Cheng with the crimes. Thus, this evidence was relevant and admissible.