Opinion ID: 2357821
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Defendant contends the evidence was insufficient to support convictions for robbery, felony murder based upon robbery, burglary, felony murder based upon burglary, and deliberate and premeditated murder, or to support special circumstance findings of murder committed in the course of a robbery or burglary. Therefore, he asserts, these convictions and special circumstance findings violate his right to due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 14 of the California Constitution, and his right to a reliable determination of his guilt guaranteed by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. `When considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we review the entire record in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether it contains substantial evidencethat is, evidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid valuefrom which a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.] `[T]he relevant question 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 beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citations.] `[I]t is the jury, not the appellate court which must be convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.] `In a case, such as the present one, based upon circumstantial evidence, we must decide whether the circumstances reasonably justify the findings of the trier of fact, but our opinion that the circumstances also might reasonably be reconciled with a contrary finding would not warrant reversal of the judgment. [Citation.]' [Citation.] ( Lewis, supra, 46 Cal.4th at pp. 1289-1290, fn. omitted.) (14) We first focus our analysis upon defendant's conviction for burglary. (15) Any person who enters a building or room with the intent to commit larceny or any felony is guilty of burglary. (§ 459.) In defendant's view, the evidence reflects that the larceny was incidental to the killing, and was not intended when defendant entered the church. A rational trier of fact could conclude, however, that defendant entered the church with the intent to commit larceny, based upon (1) the circumstances of the crimewithin a short time after entering the building, defendant stole the victim's belongingsand (2) defendant's pattern of entering offices and violently robbing solitary women. This same evidence supports a finding that the killing was committed in the course of a burglary, and thus supports a finding of felony murder based upon the commission of a burglary, and the special circumstance of murder committed in the course of a burglary. (§§ 189, 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(G).) [22] The fact that the evidence also may support other scenarios does not render insufficient the evidence supporting the verdict. ( People v. Bolden (2002) 29 Cal.4th 515, 553 [127 Cal.Rptr.2d 802, 58 P.3d 931].) We next consider defendant's conviction for robbery. Robbery is the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear. (§ 211.) Defendant contends the evidence reflects only that the perpetrator took the victim's property after the victim was killed. For the reasons set forth above, however, a rational trier of fact could conclude that defendant decided, before he killed the victim, to steal her belongings, and that, in accordance with his plan or pattern in committing his prior crimes, demanded the victim's belongings before harming her. Thus, substantial evidence supports the conclusion that the victim's property was taken against her will, and that the killing was committed in the course of the robbery. Therefore, substantial evidence supports a finding of felony murder based upon the commission of a robbery, and the special circumstance of murder committed in the course of a robbery. (§§ 189, 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(A).) Finally, defendant contends there was no substantial evidence to support the conclusion that the murder was deliberate and premeditated. As explained above, there was substantial evidence that the killing was committed in the course of a burglary and a robbery. Therefore, substantial evidence supports a finding of first degree felony murder. Because the jury unanimously found the felony-murder special circumstances to be true, it also must have agreed unanimously that defendant committed felony murder premised upon his commission of the offenses of burglary and robbery. ( People v. Hawthorne (2009) 46 Cal.4th 67, 89-90 [92 Cal.Rptr.3d 330, 205 P.3d 245] ( Hawthorne ).) Therefore, we need not address the question whether substantial evidence supports the alternative theory of deliberate and premeditated murder. In sum, substantial evidence supports all of the jury's findings.