Opinion ID: 1058965
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Rashid Shooting

Text: Muhammad alleges in assignment of error 46 that evidence of the robbery and shooting of Muhammad Rashid was immaterial and irrelevant to the Commonwealth's theories of the case. He also argues that the probative value of the evidence was outweighed by the prejudicial impact upon the jury. At trial the Commonwealth explained the relevance of the evidence. Rashid was shot and wounded at the Three Roads Liquor Store. Rashid saw the Caprice outside the store before the shooting. He identified Malvo as the person who shot him with a handgun. At the same time that Malvo shot him, he was shot at with a rifle from a distance. The rifle shot missed its target. The handgun was the same weapon used to shoot and wound LaRuffa and the same weapon found at the scene in Montgomery, Alabama where Malvo dropped it after Parker and Adams had been shot with a high-powered rifle. The rifle used to wound and kill Parker and Adams at the same time that Malvo held the handgun during their robberies was the .223 caliber Bushmaster rifle recovered from the Caprice with Muhammad and Malvo. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in the admission of this evidence because it demonstrated a singular strong resemblance to the pattern of the offense charged, Johnson v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 654, 677, 529 S.E.2d 769, 782, cert. denied, 531 U.S. 981, 121 S.Ct. 432, 148 L.Ed.2d 439 (2000), and it provided significant links connecting Muhammad and Malvo to each other, to the weapons used, and supported the theories of the Commonwealth concerning the methodology of their cooperative criminal efforts.