Opinion ID: 1745991
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Although the defendant did not testify, he presented an alibi defense through the testimony of Settles. Settles testified that Zaritz helped drive his truck from Missouri to Toronto. Though Settles could not recall the date involved, he implied that Zaritz was with him when the truck at issue was stolen. Settles further testified that when he and the defendant arrived at the truckstop in Council Bluffs en route from Toronto to California, Zaritz informed him that he had met a friend of his that had some kind of situation at a weigh scale and that he would be going home with him. The following reflects Southard's testimony regarding the events in question. Sometime after Mattes and Southard met, Zaritz and Southard agreed that Southard would drive a car and two other persons would steal a truck and drive it. After Zaritz and another proposed accomplice had a disagreement, Southard and Zaritz discussed who would go in that person's place. Zaritz later informed Southard that his friend Skip would be accompanying them. At Zaritz' home, a dent puller and tools for the theft were obtained. On October 23, Southard, Zaritz, and Skip arrived in York and decided that it would be easy to steal a Kenworth truck from there. A plan was devised for stealing the truck. According to the plan, Zaritz and Skip were to clip the chain used to lock the fence gate with boltcutters, yank the locks out of the truck's door, and steal the truck. The trio further agreed that Skip would receive $2,000 and Zaritz and Southard would split the remainder. Southard dropped Zaritz and Skip off near a Kenworth truck dealership near York on the evening of October 23. The defendant and Skip took the dent puller, boltcutters, and screwdriver with them. Southard parked across the highway from the truck dealership, acting as a lookout. Southard observed Zaritz and Skip enter a truck and back the truck out of the dealer's premises. Southard followed the truck eastward toward the Omaha-Council Bluffs area. The defendant argues that in view of Settles' alibi testimony, Southard's testimony was insufficient to prove Zaritz' guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Zaritz contends that Southard's testimony should be disbelieved because he is a convicted felon and his testimony at trial conflicted with that given at the preliminary hearing. In reviewing a criminal conviction, it is not the province of the Supreme Court to resolve conflicts in the evidence, pass on the credibility of witnesses, determine the plausibility of explanations, or weigh the evidence. Such matters are for the finder of fact, and the verdict must be sustained if, taking the view most favorable to the State, there is sufficient evidence to support it. State v. Johns, 233 Neb. 477, 478, 445 N.W.2d 914, 916 (1989). As this court stated in Johns, supra at 480, 445 N.W.2d at 917, The defendant is essentially asking this court to resolve conflicts in the evidence, pass on the credibility of witnesses, determine the plausibility of explanations, and weigh the evidence. Such is not the province of the Supreme Court but, rather, the province of the fact finder.... Zaritz is asking us to do the same. It is obvious from the verdict that the trial court did not find Settles' testimony credible in light of the entire record. Though a defendant's conviction of a crime may be based on uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice, see State v. Loveless, 234 Neb. 463, 451 N.W.2d 692 (1990), Southard's testimony was corroborated in this case by circumstantial evidence and by the admissions of Zaritz to an FBI agent and the confidential informant. It is undisputed that the truck was stolen and that it was recovered by the weigh scale officer near Wahoo. The scale officer observed a car matching the car driven by Southard following the truck. Two other law enforcement officers also saw a maroon and white vehicle in the vicinity where the truck was recovered. Zaritz arrived at the prearranged meeting place with Southard dressed in damp cowboy boots and wet, grass-stained overalls, corroborating Southard's account of this accomplice's flight through a cornfield. From the evidence before it, a court could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Zaritz [took], or exercise[d] control over, movable property of another with the intent to deprive him or her thereof. See Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-511 (Reissue 1985). Neb.Rev.Stat. § 28-202 (Reissue 1989) provides: (1) A person shall be guilty of criminal conspiracy if, with intent to promote or facilitate the commission of a felony: (a) He agrees with one or more persons that they or one or more of them... shall cause ... the result specified by the definition of the offense; and (b) He or another person with whom he conspired commits an overt act in pursuance of the conspiracy.... Southard's testimony, together with the circumstantial evidence and Zaritz' admissions, provides a sufficient basis for a court to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Zaritz, with the intent to promote the commission of a felony, agreed with at least Southard to steal a truck and did so. This assignment of error is meritless.