Opinion ID: 2336350
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Daniels

Text: Daniels argues that the government failed to present sufficient evidence to establish his identity as one of the shooters. He also contends that even assuming he did shoot Holley, the government did not prove that he acted with premeditation and deliberation. To establish premeditation, the government must show that Daniels gave thought before acting to the idea of taking a human life and [reached] a definite decision to kill. Watson v. United States, 501 A.2d 791, 793 (D.C.1985) (citation omitted); accord, e.g., Ruffin v. United States, 642 A.2d 1288, 1291 (D.C.1994). Deliberation requires evidence that the defendant acted with consideration and reflection upon the preconceived decision to kill. Patton, supra, 633 A.2d at 820. Both elements may be inferred from the facts and circumstances surrounding the killing. Thacker v. United States, 599 A.2d 52, 57 (D.C.1991); accord, McAdoo v. United States, 515 A.2d 412, 427 (D.C.1986) (citing cases). We are satisfied that the evidence offered by the government was more than adequate to support Daniels' murder conviction. Several witnesses testified that two men, using different weapons, participated in the shooting. Davis admitted that he was one of the two men involved. Jermaine Morgan saw Daniels leave with Davis immediately after Davis said that he should bust Holley. George Terry heard Daniels say that he was with Davis in intending to wet the Bama. [8] Daniels then got out of the car, carrying what appeared to be a big gun, [9] and set off with Davis to intercept Holley. Another witness, looking out her window moments after the shooting, saw two men getting into a white car, one of whom was carrying a large weapon. The fact that the accused carried the murder weapon, or indeed any deadly weapon, to the murder scene is highly probative of premeditation and deliberation. Thacker, supra, 599 A.2d at 57; accord, Harris v. United States, 668 A.2d 839, 842 (D.C.1995); McAdoo, supra, 515 A.2d at 427. When Daniels and Davis found Holley, they shot him thirteen times. At least four of those shots were fired when Holley was lying helpless on the sidewalk. We have held in the past that evidence of multiple gunshot wounds support[s] an inference that [the defendant] gave the killing a `second thought' before inflicting the final wound. Thacker, supra, 599 A.2d at 57 (citations omitted); accord, Patton, supra, 633 A.2d at 820. Holley had no weapon, and there was no evidence to suggest that he had acted aggressively towards either Davis or Daniels. While Davis testified at trial that Morgan, rather than Daniels, carried the AK-47 and helped to kill Holley, the government impeached that portion of Davis' testimony. Moreover, it was well within the jury's prerogative to credit one portion of Davis' testimony while simultaneously discrediting another. The jury could reasonably find, from Terry's and Morgan's testimony and from the surrounding circumstances, that Daniels  not Morgan  was the second gunman. We hold that the evidence before the jury, viewed in the light most favorable to the government, was sufficient to establish that Daniels intentionally killed Benjamin Holley, and that he did so with premeditation and deliberation. The fact that there was no direct substantive evidence identifying Daniels by name in the act of shooting Holley is inconsequential, [10] for the law recognizes no distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence. E.g., Ruffin, 642 A.2d at 1291; Curry, 520 A.2d at 263.