Opinion ID: 669733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: 7 The defendant first argues that the government failed to present sufficient evidence to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt. When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence we ask whether any rational trier of fact could have found all of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, viewing the evidence and every reasonable inference in the light most favoring the prosecution. United States v. Colonia, 870 F.2d 1319, 1326 (7th Cir.1989). The main issue at trial was whether the defendant knowingly possessed the firearm charged in the indictment, a .38 caliber revolver. The government introduced this gun as Government's Exhibit 1. Furthermore, the government called Anita Witherspoon as a witness. She testified that she was present at Comer Cox Park when the defendant pointed a gun at her and threatened her life. She also testified that the gun he used to threaten her looked exactly like Government's Exhibit 1. After the incident in the park, the police, acting upon Witherspoon's report, arrested the defendant and found Government's Exhibit 1 in the car he was driving. At the time of the defendant's arrest, Witherspoon identified both the defendant and the gun. This evidence is sufficient to allow a jury to conclude that the defendant was knowingly in possession of the .38 caliber revolver on the day of the incident in Comer Cox Park. 8 The defendant's attempt to minimize the importance of this evidence stems from his characterization of Witherspoon's testimony as inherently incredible, a characterization that is inaccurate. We have previously held that [t]o be incredible as a matter of law, the testimony must be incredible on its face, it must be 'impossible under the laws of nature for the occurrence to have taken place at all.'  United States v. Hernandez, 13 F.3d 248, 252-53 (7th Cir.1994) (quoting United States v. Dunigan, 884 F.2d 1010, 1013 (7th Cir.1989)). In support of his claim, the defendant makes several arguments. First, he notes that in a previous hearing, Witherspoon had stated that Government's Exhibit 1 looked more like the [gun James Patterson] had, not the gun the defendant used. At trial, however, she explained that at the hearing she was unaccustomed to seeing the gun with the trigger lock and tags that were placed on it. Those things made the gun appear shorter to her leading her to believe that it was James Patterson's gun. At trial she identified Government's Exhibit 1 as the defendant's gun because she then realized it was not as short as she initially believed. Her testimony was therefore always consistent. She consistently stated that the defendant had a gun and used it to threaten her. She consistently stated that his gun was shorter than his cousin's gun. Finally at trial she identified Government's Exhibit 1 as the gun the defendant pointed at her. Her explanation for why she earlier stated that it looked like the cousin's gun was perfectly consistent with all of her previous testimony. Therefore, this argument fails to establish that Witherspoon's trial testimony was incredible on its face. 9 Next the defendant notes that in earlier versions of the incident Witherspoon stated that the defendant's gun was silver; Government's Exhibit 1 is black. The defendant introduced this prior description as a means of impeaching Witherspoon's testimony. The jury is the final arbiter of questions pertaining to which witnesses to believe, 3 and which part of those witnesses' testimony to believe. 4 The fact that, shortly after a traumatic experience she initially provided a slightly different description of the gun does not render her trial testimony facially incredible. The inconsistency may affect her credibility but that credibility determination is for the jury to make, not this court. 5 Moreover, [m]inor inconsistencies in the testimony do not render it legally incredible. Id. 6 10