Opinion ID: 2022193
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of the Evidence Robbery

Text: Saylor next contends there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for robbery, a Class B felony. [3] When reviewing a claim of sufficiency of the evidence, we do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of witnesses. Isaacs v. State, 673 N.E.2d 757, 764 (Ind.1996). We look to the evidence and the reasonable inferences therefrom that support the verdict. Id. The conviction will be affirmed if evidence of probative value exists from which a jury could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. In his brief, Saylor argues that [t]he evidence of robbery is wholly circumstantial. A few sentences later, he declares: There is no proof, by either direct or circumstantial evidence, that Benny Saylor took any money from Judy VanDuyn. When a verdict rests on circumstantial evidence, this Court need not find that the circumstantial evidence is adequate to overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence, but only that inferences may reasonably be drawn to enable the jury to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Davis v. State, 598 N.E.2d 1041, 1045 (Ind. 1992), reh'g denied, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 948, 114 S.Ct. 392, 126 L.Ed.2d 340 (1993). Thus, if a reasonable inference can be drawn from the circumstantial evidence, the verdict will not be disturbed. Green v. State, 587 N.E.2d 1314, 1315 (Ind.1992). Saylor first attacks the conviction because the State never produced a knife or other sharp object. The record reveals that VanHorn, a friend of Saylor's, testified that Saylor kept a knife in the car he was driving the night of the crime. Herche, a fellow inmate at jail, testified that Saylor said he had seen Judy in the laundromat and was going to rob her. [4] Herche also testified that Saylor said he took a knife and told her to get in the van and take off. The jury could reasonably infer from this testimony that Saylor was armed with a sharp object. Saylor also attacks the conviction because no one saw him take anything from the victim. The record reveals that Judy had cashed a check for fifty dollars prior to going to the grocery store and the laundromat. Her husband testified that she likely spent twenty to twenty-two dollars at the grocery store. In a muddy field near the crime scene, the police found Judy's purse containing approximately five dollars in change and a one dollar bill next to it. When Saylor was arrested, the police searched him and found twenty-two dollars in wet currency. Wet tennis shoes and soaking wet jeans were found at Saylor's home. The wetness of the currency and his clothing is consistent with his running through the wet grass and fields after a severe storm. This evidence would clearly allow the jury to infer that Saylor took money from the victim. Accordingly, the evidence is sufficient to support Saylor's conviction for robbery.