Opinion ID: 1306424
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction

Text: 7. Defendant contends the evidence taken as a whole does not sustain a conviction. His contention is predicated largely upon the assumption that the hearsay testimony of Anderson, Morris, Sharp, Ingram, and Butler should not have been admitted, and that in the absence of this testimony the case rests entirely upon circumstantial evidence which is insufficient to sustain the conviction. We must concede that in the absence of the testimony of these witnesses it would be difficult to sustain the conviction of Thompson to the crime, but we have already held that this testimony was admissible. On appeal we are governed by the same rules as in any other case. In State v. Norgaard, 272 Minn. ___, ___, 136 N.W.2d 628, 631, we said: In passing upon the weight and sufficiency of the evidence we can only repeat that the scope of our review is limited to ascertaining whether under the evidence contained in the record the jury could reasonably find the accused guilty of the offense charged. If the jury, acting with due regard for the presumption of innocence and for the necessity of overcoming it by proof beyond a reasonable doubt, could reasonably conclude that defendant was proven guilty of the offense charged, a reviewing court will not disturb its verdict. See, also, State v. Markuson, 261 Minn. 515, 113 N.W.2d 346. We are also governed by the rule that on appeal this court must take the evidence most favorable to the state and must assume that the jury believed the state's witnesses and disbelieved anything which contradicted their testimony. State v. Homme, 226 Minn. 83, 32 N.W.2d 151; State v. Schabert, 222 Minn. 261, 24 N.W.2d 846, 31 Minn.L.Rev. 375. The credibility of the witnesses was clearly for the jury. While the character of the state's witnesses leaves much to be desired, if the jury believed them, as we must assume it did, their testimony, coupled with the circumstantial evidence corroborating it, is sufficient to sustain the verdict. It is true that much of the testimony relied upon by the state comes from accomplices, which must be corroborated under § 634.04 before it can be accepted; but there is much by way of corroboration that we need not detail here. It is sufficient to say that in the light of all the evidence we cannot hold that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict.