Opinion ID: 1223281
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Mr. Pannell argues that there is no evidence that he had a gun, said anything to the victims, or committed any of the elements of first degree robbery. Specifically, he contends that he was not close enough to any of the victims to take money against their will and because no money was found on his person, he could not have permanently deprived the victims of their money. As a result, he maintains that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of any robbery charges. Acknowledging that the jury could only have convicted him of first degree robbery by means of aiding and abetting Mr. Turner, his co-defendant, Mr. Pannell maintains that the evidence introduced at trial fell short of showing that he was acting in furtherance of the crime of robbery. He argues that, at best, the State presented evidence that he was on a corner, jumping up and down, while looking away from the victims at the time of the offense. Allowing that the trial testimony does not present a crystalline picture of the role each of the Appellants played in the robbery, the State observes that it is certainly not customary behavior for an individual to be jumping up and down on a street corner at 3 a.m. Consequently, the State argues that the jury could have relied on this evidence in conjunction with the other evidence introduced at trial to find Mr. Pannell to be an aider and abetter of Mr. Turner and, therefore, a principal in the first degree. See Syl. Pt. 1, in part, State v. Haines, 156 W.Va. 281, 192 S.E.2d 879 (1972) (recognizing that [t]wo or more persons may be charged in an indictment with the commission of a crime, such as armed robbery, as principals in the first degree, when one of the two persons was present, aiding and abetting the other in the commission of the crime). We agree.