Opinion ID: 1651241
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury verdict.

Text: ¶ 30. Regarding sufficiency of the evidence, 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. Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 843 (Miss.2005) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 315, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). ¶ 31. As to the disputed elements under Mississippi Code Section 97-5-23(1), the State had to prove that Gore handle[d], touch[ed] or rub[bed] with hands or any part of his ... body or any member thereof, M.G., for the purpose of gratifying his ... lust, or indulging his ... depraved licentious sexual desires.... Miss. Code Ann. § 97-5-23(1) (Rev.2006). This Court concludes that the jury was presented with not merely sufficient evidence of Gore's guilt on the enumerated elements (i.e., a rational juror could have found each element beyond a reasonable doubt), but overwhelming evidence of such. ¶ 32. Daniel's testimony about the spooning incident, wherein Gore was behind and on M.G. with his pants around his ankles just weeks prior to the subject incident, along with Gore's insistence on babysitting M.G. on May 11, 2007; the condition in which Bohn found M.G. with Gore that evening (completely naked and in bed with him); the unexplained enlargement of M.G.'s anus while she was in Gore's exclusive control; M.G.'s own statements ( Papa, owee's butt ); Gore's excuses for M.G.'s enlarged anus when confronted by Bohn, before she even mentioned that M.G.'s anus was enlarged; Gore's multiple, inconsistent stories regarding the toddler's condition; and Dr. Williams's expert opinion that M.G. had been sexually abused, collectively satisfy the requisite elements for gratification of lust outlined in Mississippi Code Section 97-5-23(1). Accordingly, this issue is without merit.