Opinion ID: 1058888
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The majority concedes that the paucity of the evidence supporting premeditation presents the Court with a close question as to whether premeditation was established beyond a reasonable doubt; it then concludes that the facts and circumstances as a whole show premeditation. In my view, however, the proof of premeditation is woefully lacking. The proof as I view it not only fails to show premeditation, but demonstrates instead that the homicide resulted from impulsive behavior. There was not even one scintilla of evidence in the record that the defendant engaged in any preparation or planning for this crime. The defendant's lack of preparation is evidenced in the circumstances that brought the defendant and the victim together. On the evening of the crime, the defendant and the victim left a bar together because the victim had no transportation, a circumstance that the defendant could not have anticipated. Further, the defendant showed no concern for keeping his conversation with the victim private, and he offered her transportation while in earshot of the bartender. The majority points to a veritable arsenal of weapons found in the defendant's truck as evidence of premeditation. The items found in the defendant's truck, however, allow for numerous other conclusions. To follow the majority's reasoning, the defendant, who had already planned to kill, had only to choose a victim and then from his arsenal find the means with which to accomplish the crime. Other and more plausible conclusions emerge. The items in the defendant's truck may also suggest a rather nomadic person whose possessions are never far from hand or a person well-equipped for any eventuality that may arise in a rural area. Just as clearly, it may be that the defendant is simply an untidy person. Further evidence points to the conclusion that the defendant did not act with premeditation. The victim voluntarily left the bar with the defendant, and while the events that followed are unclear, the evidence showed that the victim's house was unlocked and that there was no sign of struggle or blood in her home. The evidence did show that the victim's blood was in the defendant's truck, that articles belonging to the victim were found in a field near her home, and that the defendant made a statement to police that the victim might be found chained to a tree with her head and hands missing. From this evidence, the majority concludes that the victim was first taken to a field near her home and attacked in some way, and then she was taken to a secluded area, chained to a tree, and murdered by the defendant, who was at all times acting with premeditation in committing this crime. It is with the majority's interpretation of the evidence that I cannot agree. Had there been blood or signs of struggle in the field, or had the victim been found chained to a tree, this theory would merit further consideration. However, such is not the case, and the evidence lends itself to other more logical interpretations. One interpretation might be that the defendant, as a result of some unexpected event, killed the victim, and after figuring out how to bury her, dumped her possessions in the field. An interpretation such as this does not involve premeditation. Accordingly, the evidence certainly does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed a premeditated murder, especially when the evidence of premeditation is entirely circumstantial. [1] The defendant's behavior after the crime also supports an interpretation that he did not plan this murder. After the crime, the defendant suddenly and unexpectedly disappeared from his job and his home, which resulted in a missing person report being filed. Again, this conduct is more suggestive of a panicked response to an unexpected event rather than of a premeditated murder. Finally, I disagree with the majority's conclusion that the nature of the mutilation shows a pre-existing intent to kill carried out with care and precision. The reason for the mutilation is unascertainable; nothing, however, in this conduct reflects a calm or reflective mental stateeither before or after the murder. If anything, this conduct suggests extreme irrationality. Therefore, since the circumstantial evidence considered as a whole is just as easily construed to support a less culpable mental state, I would find that a reasonable doubt as to the element of premeditation remains.