Opinion ID: 1729049
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Pilley argues that the evidence presented by the State was insufficient to convict him. He insists that the State did not prove that he committed the crimes of which he was accused and convicted. Specifically, Pilley argues that the State's circumstantial evidence was not sufficient to prove that he had the intent to kill and that there was no evidence of his complicity in the robberies and murders. In Ex parte Woodall, 730 So.2d 652 (Ala.1998), this Court addressed the role of appellate courts in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in a criminal case: `In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a reviewing court must accept as true all evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. Faircloth v. State, 471 So.2d 485 (Ala.Cr. App.1984), aff'd, 471 So.2d 493 (Ala. 1985).' Powe v. State, 597 So.2d 721, 724 (Ala.1991). It is not the function of this Court to decide whether the evidence is believable beyond a reasonable doubt, Pennington v. State, 421 So.2d 1361 (Ala.Cr.App.1982); rather, the function of this Court is to determine whether there is legal evidence from which a rational finder of fact could have, by fair inference, found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Davis v. State, 598 So.2d 1054 (Ala.Cr. App.1992). Thus, `[t]he role of appellate courts is not to say what the facts are. [Their role] is to judge whether the evidence is legally sufficient to allow submission of an issue for decision [by] the jury.' Ex parte Bankston, 358 So.2d 1040, 1042 (Ala.1978) (emphasis original). 730 So.2d at 658. The Court of Criminal Appeals addressed the question of the sufficiency of the evidence against Pilley: The evidence before the jury indicated that Pilley had been in the Changing Times Lounge previously, and that he knew the layout of the bar. (R. 364.) There was testimony that the night of the murders he had been overheard discussing obtaining weapons and `easy money.' (R. 379.) Witnesses saw him and Andrew Apicella in the Changing Times Lounge late on the night of the murders. Witnesses described him as acting nervous during the evening. At one time, he asked a bar patron if Edward Dodd owned the bar and whether Dodd was carrying a gun. (R. 441.) Evidence indicated that two weapons were used in the murders; the position of the bodies of the victims when found indicated the five victims had been separated the Dodds were killed in the pool-table area of the bar, and the three customers were killed on the other side of the establishment. That the victims appeared to have been laid on their faces with their heads in their hands before being shot in the head indicates that they had been deliberately `executed' by their killers. Later that evening, Pilley and Apicella split approximately $300, including five $2 bills, similar to the bills that one of the murder victims had kept in his wallet. (R. 521.) Later, the Apicella family's lawyer turned over to the police jewelry belonging to Pamela Dodd. Accepting as true all the evidence introduced by the State, and according the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude there was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have found Pilley either was directly responsible for the murders or was an accomplice, and that he possessed the requisite specific intent to kill. The evidence is sufficient to sustain the jury's finding of guilty as to the capital murder charge. Carden v. State, 621 So.2d 342, 347 (Ala.Cr.App.1992). 789 So.2d 877. After reviewing the record in this case, we agree with the Court of Criminal Appeals that the State presented sufficient evidence from which the jury could have found that Pilley either committed the murders or was an accomplice in those murders, and that he had possessed the requisite intent to kill. We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to sustain Pilley's conviction, and, therefore, that double-jeopardy principles do not bar a retrial.