Opinion ID: 13161
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 17 Rogers next contends that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction on Count One, the robbery of Premier Bank. In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we consider 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 v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 320, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); accord United States v. Resio-Trejo, 45 F.3d 907, 910-11 (5th Cir.1995). 18 Rogers argues that the Government did not offer evidence that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was the individual who robbed Premier Bank on August 8, 1995. In support of his claim, Rogers cites the D.C. Circuit's decision in Borum v. United States, 380 F.2d 595 (D.C.Cir.1967), and our discussion of Borum in Gibson v. Collins, 947 F.2d 780 (5th Cir.1991), where we accepted the Borum rule insofar as it says that when the only evidence against a defendant is fingerprints from the scene of the crime, a reasonable juror may find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt only if the evidence indicates that the imprinted object was generally inaccessible to the defendant except during the commission of the crime. Gibson, 947 F.2d at 785. Borum does not control here, however, because the fingerprint on the demand note was not the only evidence adduced at trial regarding the identity of the man who robbed Premier Bank. The similarity of the demand notes used in the two robberies supports a theory that they were perpetrated by the same person. 2 Additionally, the jury was allowed to consider, with respect to guilt on each of the two counts, the evidence that Rogers had fled police custody after his arrest. Reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we conclude that a rational jury could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Rogers was guilty on Count One. 19 To the extent that defendant's brief raises as a separate issue a challenge to the jury instructions on the first count, we review the instructions for plain error because no objection was made in the district court. United States v. Reyes, 102 F.3d 1361, 1364 (5th Cir.1996). Rogers suggests that the instructions did not clarify the Government's burden of proof with respect to the identity element of Count One. While more extensive instructions were given regarding the issue of identity with respect to Count Two, the instructions spelled out the elements of the crime charged in each count and directed that the jury consider each count separately. We therefore find no plain error in the instructions.