Opinion ID: 2569537
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Evidence of Premeditation

Text: At trial, Doyle's defense was that he was not capable of forming criminal intent or premeditation because he had senile dementia or Alzheimer's disease. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, the standard of review is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Jasper, 269 Kan. 649, 655, 8 P.3d 708 (2000). Both the defense and the prosecutor agreed that Doyle suffered from some level of dementiathe issue was the degree of the disease and how the disease affected Doyle's ability to form intent or premeditation. Premeditation is a `state of mind' relating to a person's reasons and motives for acting as he or she did. State v. Cravatt, 267 Kan. 314, 328, 979 P.2d 679 (1999). Unless a person actually communicates his or her reasons for taking another's life, evidence of premeditation must be proved by circumstantial evidence. Such evidence, however, is sufficient to establish even the gravest offenses, as in this case. Premeditation cannot be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon alone, but it may be inferred where other circumstances also exist. 267 Kan. at 328-29; see State v. Hill, 233 Kan. 648, 652, 664 P.2d 840 (1983). The experts in this case used different tests and criteria in making their determinations. The defense presented expert testimony of Dr. William O'Connor, a clinical psychologist who had interviewed and tested Doyle. O'Connor testified that the mental degeneration impaired Doyle's ability to think abstractly and to reason verbally. O'Connor testified that Doyle had the normal ability to retain memories that he had known over a lifetime, but had an extremely low ability to grasp the present and retain information of the present. He testified that Doyle's ability to think through a new problem, prospectively ... is grossly impaired. O'Connor concluded Doyle was impaired and suffered from dementia and did not have the ability to premeditate a plan. The prosecutor rebutted O'Connor's testimony with the testimony of Dr. Patrick Hughes, a psychiatrist who examined Doyle for the State. It was Dr. Hughes' opinion that Doyle's senile illness did not approach the level of mental impairment needed to preclude an ability to form criminal intent or to premeditate. In addition to the expert testimony, there was circumstantial evidence from which the jury could infer premeditation: the number of blows to the victims, Doyle's removal of his license plate from his car prior to driving to Marguerite's house, the absence of evidence of provocation, and Doyle's fabricated statements to the police officers to avoid responsibility for the crime. Doyle requests we reweigh the expert testimony and find in favor of the defense. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, this court will not reweigh the evidence. It is the jury's function, not ours, to weigh the evidence and determine the credibility of witnesses. State v. Aikins, 261 Kan. 346, 391-92, 932 P.2d 408 (1997). Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, we find there was sufficient evidence for a rational factfinder to have found that Doyle was able and did premeditate the commission of the crimes.