Opinion ID: 1605140
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Taking and carrying away the property from his person or in his presence

Text: ¶ 34. Bridges testified that, as Houck lay dying, Lima went through his pockets, taking credit cards, papers, and car keys. Houck's daughter, Jessica, testified that her father typically kept his cash, cards, photographs, and identification in a money clip in his shirt pocket. Lima and Bridges used Houck's car to flee to Mexico. Bridges testified that Lima, who had previously complained of having no money, suddenly had a lot of money. We find that this testimony provided the jury with sufficient evidence to reasonably find that Lima took and carried away Houck's property from his person. ¶ 35. Lima's claim that he killed Houck in self-defense was a question of fact for the jury. See Mohr v. State, 584 So.2d 426, 431 (Miss.1991) (The jury is the sole judge of the weight of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses.). Although no one witnessed the argument between Lima and Houck, Bridges testified that she saw Lima beat Houck and go through his pockets while he was bleeding to death. Furthermore, Bridges testified that Lima had a lot of money while in route to Mexico, and that she heard the appellant bragging about the murder after they arrived. We find that this testimony provided the jury with sufficient evidence to reasonably find that Lima killed Houck without the authority of law. ¶ 36. Thus, considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we hold that a rational juror could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the State had met its burden in proving all of the elements of capital murder, with the underlying crime of robbery.