Opinion ID: 2091992
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Finally, Moore contends that the evidence was not sufficient to support his conviction. In reviewing this claim, we will neither weigh evidence nor judge witness credibility. We will examine the evidence that supports the verdict, together with any reasonable inferences one could draw from it, to determine whether there was sufficient probative evidence to support the convictions. James v. State, 265 Ind. 384, 354 N.E.2d 236 (1976). Here, the defense acknowledged throughout the trial that the key issue was the identity of A.B.'s assailant. (R. 1669.) Although A.B. could not visually identify him, the State introduced circumstantial evidence to establish that the assailant was Moore. A.B. gave a physical description of her attacker, and it generally suited Moore. Fluid evidence recovered from A.B. was broadly consistent with Moore. Hairs that were also recovered from A.B. were similar to Moore's hair. Most importantly, an FBI specialist lifted a latent fingerprint from A.B.'s vehicle registration, which the assailant had handled, and the print matched Moore's fingerprints. Moore's principal argument against an inference of guilt from this evidence was a wholly unsubstantiated claim that, while he was in police custody, someone somehow tricked him into touching the vehicle registration. This evidence was sufficient. In Mediate v. State, 498 N.E.2d 391 (Ind.1986), we considered what quantum of additional evidence, if any, was necessary to sustain a conviction based principally on a fingerprint. We observed that [a] reasonable doubt is not a fanciful doubtit must be more than speculation or whim. Id. at 393 (internal quotation marks omitted). We then concluded that when investigators find fingerprints on an object preclusion of legitimate access to the object supports the inference that the fingerprints were not made in a lawful manner. Id. at 394. In this case, Moore's fingerprint turned up on A.B.'s vehicle registration, a document to which few persons would ever have legitimate access, but which the assailant had handled with his bare hands. Furthermore, we believe Moore's suggestion that someone caused him to touch the registration in a shuffle of papers is gross speculation that, absent any support, lies in the realm of the fanciful. We hold that the evidence was clearly sufficient for a reasonable juror to conclude that the man who forced A.B. to perform oral sex and who raped her three times was Thomas Moore.