Opinion ID: 2317148
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence Established Crime Scene

Text: At the conclusion of the State's case-in-chief, Hull moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that the State had failed to establish the location of the alleged offenses. The trial judge denied the motion, finding that, based on Detective Mitchell's testimony, the shooting incidents occurred within Sussex County, Delaware. On appeal, Hull reiterates his claim that there was insufficient evidence of the location of the incident within Delaware. The record reflects that after Batson reported the offense to the police, Detective J.B. Mitchell drove Batson back to the route he had traveled from the Delmar Racetrack that evening. On State Route 54, also known as the Delmar Road, Batson told the officer that he first observed the vehicle driven by Hull at the Jersey Road intersection, just west of Delmar. The shooting took place between Jersey Road and Susan Beach Road, which was approximately one and a half miles west of Jersey Road. Batson also told the officer that the shooting occurred before he reached a wooded area along the road, which was located before Packing House Road. A young witness named Kelsey Craven testified that she had observed two cars stop along Delmar Road in front of her house, one that looked like a brown pickup and the other like a white Blazer. She testified that the man driving the white car got out and started to walk up to the brown truck, but the brown truck just speeded off before he could reach it. Craven lived at 6370 Delmar Road, just west of the intersection of Jersey Road and approximately two or three miles East of Packing House Road. Hull lived on Naylor Mill Road, just east of the intersection of Jersey and Naylor Mill Roads, and about four and a half miles away from Craven's residence. Hull owned a white Jeep. The pickup truck Batson was driving was described as tan in color. Mitchell testified that the stretch of Delmar Road from Jersey Road to beyond Packing House Road was located in Sussex County, Delaware. Detective Mitchell's testimony, in conjunction with that of Kelsey Craven, was sufficient to establish jurisdiction and venue in this case. Looking at this evidence in a light most favorable to the State, there is sufficient proof that the offenses (Aggravated Menacing and the Reckless Endangering, and their related Firearm offenses) took place in Sussex County, Delaware. The fact that the State's evidence did not precisely establish where the events took place is not critical because suits may be established by inference. [9] Accordingly, the trial judge properly denied the motion for judgment of acquittal on the basis of insufficient proof of jurisdiction.