Opinion ID: 795604
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficient Evidence Supported Stambaugh's Conviction

Text: 24 Claiming that the prosecution never proved that she had the requisite knowledge and criminal intent, Stambaugh argues that the evidence in the record was insufficient to support her conviction on either count of the indictment. Stambaugh's argument is without merit. In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of evidence supporting a criminal conviction, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781. The evidence in the record easily satisfies this standard. At trial, witnesses testified that Stambaugh personally solicited money from investors—promising a 500-to-1 return—and sent messages reassuring investors of the project's legitimacy, even after Dupre was arrested in this case. The Project 9 e-mail messages discussed above demonstrated that defendants had reason to doubt the legitimacy of the scheme. Stambaugh withdrew investor funds for her personal use, knew of Dupre's use of investor funds for personal use, and told investors that they shouldn't be doing due diligence. In addition, Stambaugh accepted what she called a personal loan from an investor after telling him that the Roberta Project was no longer taking funds. Stambaugh's assertion that she trusted in the Roberta Project's legitimacy and lacked an intent to defraud does not convince us that no rational juror could have believed beyond a reasonable doubt that Stambaugh knew the project for what it was—a fraud. 25