Opinion ID: 2052595
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: whether the evidence produced at trial was sufficient for the jury to find the defendant guilty of second-degree murder under sec. 940.02, stats. 1967

Text: [1] When a criminal defendant argues on appeal that the evidence was insufficient to convict him, this court does not retry the case on the facts in the record to determine if each member of this court is convinced of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Fox v. State, 60 Wis. 2d 462, 470, 210 N.W.2d 722 (1973). Rather, this court must affirm the conviction if it finds that the jury, acting reasonably, could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Alles, 106 Wis. 2d 368, 376, 316 N.W.2d 378 (1982). [2-4] The function of weighing the credibility of witnesses is exclusively in the jury's province, and the jury verdict will be overturned only if, viewing the evidence most favorably to the state and the conviction, it is inherently or patently incredible or so lacking in probative value that no jury could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 376-77, quoting Fells v. State, 65 Wis. 2d 525, 529, 223 N.W.2d 507 (1974). If more than one inference can be drawn from the evidence, the inference which supports the jury finding must be followed unless the testimony was incredible as a matter of law. Alles, 106 Wis. 2d at 377, quoting Murphy v. State, 75 Wis. 2d 522, 526, 249 N.W.2d 779 (1977). Thus, if any possibility exists that the jury could have drawn the appropriate inferences from the evidence adduced at trial to find the requisite guilt, we will not overturn a verdict even if we believe that a jury should not have found guilt based on the evidence before it. Alles, 106 Wis. 2d at 377. The preceding principles, which limit our review, are grounded on the sound reasoning that the jury has the great advantage of being present at the trial; the jury can weigh and sift conflicting testimony and give weight to those nonverbal attributes of the witnesses which are often persuasive indicia of guilt or innocence. Id. In order to be convicted of second-degree murder, the evidence must show that the accused's conduct was (1) imminently dangerous to another; (2) of such a character that it evinced a depraved mind, regardless of life; and (3) the cause of the victim's death. Sec. 940.02, Stats. 1967; State v. Johnson, 135 Wis. 2d 453, 455, 400 N.W.2d 502 (Ct. App. 1986); State v. Bernal, 111 Wis. 2d 280, 283, 330 N.W.2d 219 (Ct. App. 1983). [5, 6] A conviction for second-degree murder may be based in whole or in part upon circumstantial evidence. State v. Koller, 87 Wis. 2d 253, 266, 274 N.W.2d 651 (1979); Johnson, 135 Wis. 2d at 456. The qualities of conduct necessary to prove criminal conduct in a second-degree murder case are found in the act itself and the circumstances of its commission. State v. Hooper, 101 Wis. 2d 517, 542, 305 N.W.2d 110 (1981); State v. Olson, 75 Wis. 2d 575, 582, 250 N.W.2d 12 (1977). The type, nature, extent, and degree of force required to produce the injuries which resulted from the conduct provide the type of circumstantial evidence upon which a second-degree murder conviction can be based. Hooper, 101 Wis. 2d at 542-43. The defendant argues, citing Seidler v. State, 64 Wis. 2d 456, 219 N.W.2d 320 (1974), that there is insufficient evidence to prove both the conduct and the mental state necessary to establish second-degree murder. We disagree with the defendant's conclusion and believe that Seidler is readily distinguishable on its facts. In Seidler, a 22-year-old male babysitter was originally convicted of second-degree murder for causing the death of a 2-year-old child. Id. at 457. The evidence produced at trial was consistent with the defendant's version of his conduct. The defendant testified that he had angrily grabbed the child by the arm and threw her into a bedroom in the direction of a bed where she hit her stomach against a portion of the bed. Id. at 463. There was no evidence that the defendant threw the child at the hard and unyielding portions of the bed. Id. In addition, there was no evidence of any prior abuse by the defendant. Id. at 458. This court held that the defendant's conduct, though done in a reckless and callous manner, was not consciously such conduct that it is imminently dangerous to life so as to serve as the basis for a conviction for second-degree murder. Id. at 464. In addition, the court found that although the defendant's conduct created a situation of unreasonable risk of harm or of death to the 2-year-old child, the defendant's conduct did not evince a depraved mind regardless of human life. Id. at 465. Therefore, this court reversed the defendant's conviction for second-degree murder and ordered a new trial on the charge of homicide by reckless conduct. Id. at 466. In the present case, the defendant had no explanation for the cause of Donald's ruptured stomach. The expert medical testimony presented by the state at trial revealed, however, that the trauma required to cause an injury of the nature sustained by Donald would have had to come from a violent application of blunt force to the abdomen and not from a routine fall. Moreover, the state produced evidence that there is nothing in a typical home reasonably capable of producing a fatal stomach laceration by accidental means. The state's evidence also demonstrated that the trauma causing Donald's stomach to tear had to have been caused during the time when the defendant, by his own admission, was home alone with Donald. Furthermore, evidence produced at trial indicated an extensive history of abuse of Donald by the defendant. Finally, two of Donald's sisters testified that before they were questioned by the police shortly after Donald's death, the defendant had warned them against volunteering information. More specifically, one of Donald's sisters testified that the defendant warned her that she would be sleeping with [Donald] if she gave information to the police. [7] We must determine whether such evidence, believed and rationally considered by the jury, is sufficient to circumstantially establish the elements of second-degree murder. The test for circumstantial evidence is whether it is strong enough to exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Johnson, 135 Wis. 2d at 456. This is a question of probability, not possibility. Id. at 457. After considering the evidence as a whole, and especially the medical testimony and the evidence of child abuse, we conclude that the jury could eliminate accident or misadventure as a reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Id. at 465. The expert testimony concerning the level of force needed to cause the injury, coupled with the surrounding circumstances, arguably places such a theory beyond the realm of possibility. Id. [8] As to other circumstances of death short of second-degree murder, we are satisfied that the jury could have drawn the appropriate inferences from the evidence adduced at trial concerning the nature of the injury and the pattern of abuse to conclude that these do not fall within the realm of probability as required by the law of circumstantial evidence. Id. After weighing all the evidence, we conclude that the jury could properly find that there was no other reasonable conclusion but that the defendant was the instrument of Donald Miller's death under circumstances constituting second-degree murder. Consequently, we affirm the court of appeals' holding that the evidence produced at trial was sufficient for the jury to find the defendant guilty of second-degree murder under sec. 940.02, Stats. 1967.