Opinion ID: 2613608
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: In denying the defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal at the close of the State's evidence, the trial judge stated: Well, I guess I could say that if there was ever a case where a defense motion for acquittal might be appropriate at this juncture, this might be one. The nexus or connection between the activities at the home of the deceased and these two defendants is very tenuous, and that's, that's the major difficulty that I have with denying the defendant's motion. But I do deny such. It seems to me that the credibility of the state's witnesses is the key, and if the jury believes the latest story that these two individuals told, together with the circumstantial evidence, that a reasonable trier of fact could come up with the conclusion that these two defendants are guilty of the three crimes charged against each of them. On appeal, Noriega argues that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the underlying felonies of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery and, therefore, his felony murder conviction cannot stand. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, the standard of review on appeal is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, an appellate court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Johnson, 255 Kan. 252, Syl. ¶ 6, 874 P.2d 623 (1994); State v. Van Winkle, 254 Kan. 214, Syl. ¶ 5, 864 P.2d 729 (1993), cert. denied 511 U.S. 1144, 128 L. Ed.2d 890 (1994); State v. Ferguson, 254 Kan. 62, Syl. ¶ 4, 864 P.2d 693 (1993). A conviction of even the gravest offense may be sustained by circumstantial evidence. State v. Bradford, 254 Kan. 133, Syl. ¶ 2, 864 P.2d 680 (1993). The jury found Noriega guilty of both underlying felonies of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery. Aggravated burglary is knowingly and without authority entering into or remaining within any building ... in which there is a human being, with intent to commit a felony, theft or sexual battery therein. K.S.A. 21-3716. Aggravated robbery is a robbery committed by a person who is armed with a dangerous weapon or who inflicts bodily harm upon any person in the course of such robbery. K.S.A. 21-3427. The evidence at trial revealed that Robinson was shot three times, both inside and outside the house, and that two of the shots were fatal. Evidence supported inferences that Robinson's house had been broken into and that items from his house were stolen. The additional evidence was that Noriega, Abel, and Shutts all left Shutts' house together to go drinking on the evening of the crime. Several witnesses saw them drinking together at the Twilighter. Baier identified Noriega and Abel as the two men he saw running away from Robinson's house shortly after Baier heard shots fired. Shutts testified that Abel had left a gun of the same general type used to commit the murder at Shutts' house before the group left for the Twilighter. Shutts testified that a few minutes after he returned from the Twilighter, Abel retrieved the gun. Shutts also testified that he distributed proceeds from the sale of coins evenly between Abel and Noriega. Shutts testified that Abel told him that [w]hen they got the coins, something went wrong. It is the function of the jury in a criminal case to determine the weight and credit to be given the testimony of each witness. On review, the credibility of witnesses will not be passed upon, conflicting evidence will not be weighed, and all questions of credibility are resolved in favor of the State. Van Winkle, 254 Kan. at 225. The credibility of the State's primary witnesses, Shutts and Baier, was brought into question in opening argument, throughout the trial, and during closing arguments. Both witnesses admitted to lying to police prior to trial and having been involved in crimes subsequent to the murder. The jury had the opportunity to evaluate the evidence and the testimony of the witnesses. The jury obviously believed the State's witnesses were credible and accepted the evidence presented by the State as true. Under the circumstances, the evidence adduced at trial was sufficient for a reasonable factfinder to conclude that Noriega was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the underlying felonies of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.