Opinion ID: 2594137
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: issues

Text: [¶ 11] Magallanes contends that his conviction for first degree murder cannot stand because: (1) the State failed to conclusively prove Lopez's death was caused by the bullet wounds to his head; (2) no witness actually saw Magallanes shoot Lopez; and (3) there was no physical evidence linking Lopez to the crime. [2] In reviewing Magallanes' sufficiency of the evidence claim, we must determine whether a rational jury could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Vlahos v. State, 2003 WY 103, ¶ 36, 75 P.3d 628, 637 (Wyo.2003). We do not consider conflicting evidence presented by Magallanes, and afford to the State every favorable inference that may be reasonably and fairly drawn from the evidence it presented. Id., ¶ 36, 75 P.3d at 637-38. We have consistently held that it is the jury's responsibility to weigh the evidence, assess the credibility of the witnesses and resolve conflicts in the evidence. Leyo v. State, 2005 WY 92, ¶ 11, 116 P.3d 1113, 1116-17 (Wyo.2005). We will not substitute our judgment for that of the jury when applying this rule; our only duty is to determine whether a quorum of reasonable and rational individuals could have come to the same result as the jury did. Id.; Vlahos, ¶ 36, 75 P.3d at 638. [¶ 12] Magallanes' complaint concerning the cause of Lopez's death rests largely on selected portions of the testimony of Dr. Stephen Cina, the forensic pathologist who autopsied Lopez. Dr. Cina testified he could not determine whether Lopez died before or after being run over by Hampton's vehicle, but that Lopez would not have been exposed to that vehicle had the gunshots not left him incapacitated and lying in the roadway. Magallanes argues this latter conclusion is unsupported by the record, speculating that Lopez may have been shot someplace other than the road and somehow managed to move himself onto the road after being shot twice in the head. [¶ 13] In advancing this argument, Magallanes ignores the evidence that after his brother pulled over on Campstool Road  presumably on the right hand side of the road  Rojas remained seated on the right hand side of the rear passenger seat. Thus, when Magallanes, who was seated behind the driver, pulled Lopez out of the back seat and began to beat him, those activities can reasonably be inferred to have occurred on the road. Magallanes also ignores that the .25 caliber shell casings were also found on Campstool Road in close proximity to Lopez's body. [¶ 14] Magallanes further fails to note evidence indicating that Hampton's vehicle did not hit Lopez's body until shortly before 2:00 a.m., which was approximately the same time Sophia and her friend embarked for Greeley to take Teniente and Rojas home and approximately forty-five minutes after Magallanes shot Lopez. That lapse in time is significant because, although Dr. Cina testified that the gunshot wounds to the brain might not have immediately resulted in death, and that the injuries caused to Lopez's body by Hampton's vehicle occurred either shortly before or shortly after Lopez expired, he also testified the bullet wounds would have incapacitated Lopez. Furthermore, Dr. Cina testified that Lopez had aspirated blood from those wounds and, from the amount of such blood discovered, Lopez could have been gasping for breath only for a short time after being shot. [¶ 15] From that evidence, a rational jury could have reasonably inferred that Lopez was shot in the roadway and left there to die. A rational jury also could have reasonably concluded that the bullet wounds immediately rendered Lopez incapable of moving and, after a few minutes, no longer capable of gasping for breath, and that death's door was swinging shut, if not already closed, when Hampton encountered him that morning. We find ample evidence in the record to support a reasonable conclusion that Lopez's death was a direct result of the bullets Magallanes discharged into his head. Magallanes has not convinced us otherwise. [¶ 16] Similarly unpersuasive is Magallanes' claim that the evidence supporting his murder conviction is inadequate because neither of the two eyewitnesses testifying at trial, Jesse and Rojas, stated they actually saw him fire the bullets into Lopez's head. The record reveals that both witnesses testified Magallanes was the last person to handle the gun prior to the shooting. Jesse testified Lopez was on the ground when Magallanes pointed the gun towards the ground and fired it twice. Additionally, Rojas testified that, after observing Magallanes fumbling with the gun, he saw him go towards Lopez and then heard two gun shots. Rojas further testified that when Magallanes returned to the car following the shooting, he stated that he had shot Lopez both in the forehead and the back of the head. A rational jury could easily conclude from that evidence that it was Magallanes who killed Lopez. [¶ 17] Magallanes' final claim, as set forth in the title of his argument, is that there is no physical evidence linking [Lopez] to the crime. Magallanes, however, has not mentioned, let alone developed, this claim in the body of his argument. Needless to say, we will not address it.