Opinion ID: 2387623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: For his first point on appeal, appellant contends that the jury should not have been instructed on felony murder because the State did not present sufficient evidence to support that the murder occurred as a result of a burglary. Appellant was charged, in an amended information, with two alternative charges of murder. First, the State charged appellant with causing Ms. Byers's death while in the course of burglary or during the escape therefrom; second, the State charged appellant with purposely causing Ms. Byers's death. The trial court gave instructions on both offenses and the jury returned a general verdict of guilty. Appellant contends that it is impossible to know on which count he was convicted and, because there was not substantial evidence of a burglary the conviction should be reversed and dismissed. We note that the jury instructions provided for a general verdict, and that appellant did not seek instructions for a verdict on each of the specific charges and did not proffer instructions or make an objection to the case being submitted for a general verdict. Under these circumstances, we will examine the evidence relating to both counts to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict on each of the charges. See United States v. Nattier, 127 F.3d 655 (8th Cir.1997), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S.Ct. 1398, 140 L.Ed.2d 656 (1998). We note that pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 5-4-501, a conviction on either charge would support a life sentence. The test for determining sufficiency of the evidence is whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict. On appeal, we will review the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee and sustain the conviction if there is any substantial evidence to support the verdict. Davis v. State, 314 Ark. 257, 264, 863 S.W.2d 259, 262 (1993). Evidence is substantial if it is of sufficient force and character to compel reasonable minds to reach a conclusion and pass beyond suspicion and conjecture. Id. Only evidence supporting the verdict will be considered. Stewart v. State, 331 Ark. 359, 363, 961 S.W.2d 750, 752 (1998). It is important to note that we make no distinction between circumstantial and direct evidence when reviewing for sufficiency of the evidence. Davis, 314 Ark. at 264, 863 S.W.2d at 262. However, for circumstantial evidence to be sufficient, it must exclude every other reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence. Whether the evidence excludes every hypothesis is left to the jury to determine. Id.