Opinion ID: 1466877
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The Appellant does not raise the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence; however, we stated in Commonwealth v. Zettlemoyer, 500 Pa. 16, 454 A.2d 937 (1982), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 970, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983), reh. den., 463 U.S. 1236, 104 S.Ct. 31, 77 L.Ed.2d 1452 (1983) that an independent review of the record would be conducted to determine the sufficiency of the evidence in capital punishment cases. Circumstantial evidence suffices to prove any element or all the elements of the crime of homicide. Commonwealth v. Glass, 486 Pa. 334, 405 A.2d 1236 (1979) (plurality opinion); Commonwealth v. Amato, 449 Pa. 592, 297 A.2d 462 (1972). Upon examination of the record, viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, we find that the evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the killings committed by the Appellant were willful, deliberate, and premeditated.