Opinion ID: 2671505
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Participation in the Murder

Text: Smalls first argues that the jury had insufficient evidence to establish he participated in Gantz’s murder. According to Smalls, no reasonable juror could find that the murder happened as Melgar described because Melgar’s testimony that he suffocated Gantz contradicted the medical evidence that Gantz died by strangulation. Further, Cook was unable to articulate his precise role in the murder and it remained unanswered how Smalls restrained Gantz’s feet. Each of these points concerns how the jury resolved conflicting testimony, which is not within the scope of our review and is exclusively a jury function. The government presented sufficient evidence that Smalls participated in the murder: his cellmates testified that all three individuals participated in the murder and an expert opined that the lack of defensive wounds on Gantz’s body was consistent with being restrained.