Opinion ID: 877415
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Under this contention, petitioner claims that this court improperly rejected in McKenzie 111, 608 P.2d at 447i48, his claim that there was insufficient evidence that Lana Harding's death resulted from a kidnapping or that she was tortured prior to her death. He further contends in brief that the standard applied by this Court in making that -16- determination has been repudiated as a matter of federal constitutional law in Jackson v. Virginia (1979), 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560. (a) Of course, the issue of the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdicts that the defendant committed deliberate homicide by torture and that as a result of her aggravated kidnapping, Lana Harding died, has been fully considered, litigated and decided by this Court in McKenzie 111. - 608 P.2d at 447-448. In Jackson, it was stated that based on In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368, the critical inquiry on review of the sufficiency of evidence to support a criminal conviction must be not simply to determine whether the jury was properly instructed on reasonable doubt, but to determine whether record evidence could reasonably support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It was stated that the relevant question is 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 reasonable doubt, repudiating the no evidence rule. Jackson, 443 U.S. at 318-320. The contention that in McKenzie 111, this Court applied an incorrect standard in determining the sufficiency of the evidence is perhaps a new issue, though implicit in our earlier statements respecting the overwhelming evidence of criminal intent is a finding of the sufficiency of the evidence. It is painful to repeat, that in the light most favorable to the State, the testimony of Dr. Pfaff was that Lana Harding was initially assaulted by means of attempted strangulation with a rope. She lived from 30 to 90 minutes thereafter, until she was struck on the head with a heavy object. The State contended the heavy object was the manifold that was found in the defendant's pickup. She died within 2 or 3 minutes of that blow, which opened her skull and exposed her brain tissue. In addition, there were five major and a number of minor wounds to the head which may have been inflicted by the same heavy instrument or a lighter one. Other lighter metal objects were found in petitioner's pickup. Dr. Pfaff testified that Lana Harding may or may not have been conscious after the initial attempted strangulation, but there are multiple wounds which give evidence that she was in fact conscious. She had received blows to the top of the head, over the front part of her face and on the right side. The backs of both of her hands were bruised which would indicate that she was attempting to ward off the blows of her assailant. These wounds, contusions and abrasions are evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to any rational trier of fact that she was indeed tortured. That the aggravated kidnapping resulted in her death is equally evident from the testimony. Dr. Pfaff testified that the infliction of the major wound to her head which caused her death would have resulted in extensive bleeding. He also stated that the absence of a large amount of blood in an area would indicate that the large wound was not inflicted in that area. No appreciable amount of blood was found in the teacherage in which she resided. However, a large amount of her blood was found at a place near the teacherage where petitioner had parked his pickup on the night of January 21, 1974. Her blood and brain tissue were found in the back of the pickup. A drag trail led from the teacherage to the place where the pickup had been parked. This is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that Lana Harding, while still alive, was dragged from the teacherage to the pickup and killed in that area. Again, to any rational trier of fact, the evidence is overwhelming that her aggravated kidnapping resulted in her death. We find no support for petitioner's contention that this Court has applied an insufficient constitutional standard under Jackson v. Virginia, supra, or under any other case that we are aware of.