Opinion ID: 2120270
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The victim, Mary Katherine Johnson, was found strangled to death in her Mayfield, Kentucky, home at approximately 1:00 a.m. on April 3, 1999. The medical examiner who performed the postmortem examination estimated that she was killed sometime between 5:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on April 2, 1999. In addition to strangulation, the postmortem examination revealed massive blunt force trauma to the face and head. Appellant, a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was Johnson's nephew and had been a houseguest in her home during the two weeks immediately preceding her death. During that time, Appellant became acquainted with Wendee Morris, a drug dealer who lived across the street. Appellant found the atmosphere at Morris's residence fun and exciting and began to spend most of his time there consuming alcohol and crack cocaine. He was engaged in these pursuits at Morris's residence on the night of April1  2, 1999. Appellant told Morris that Johnson was keeping his money for him, and twice that night left Morris's residence to go to Johnson's residence for money to purchase more crack cocaine. According to Morris, he returned with twenty dollars after the first trip and fifteen dollars after the second trip. At around 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. on the morning of April 2, 1999, Appellant again left Morris's residence to go to Johnson's home for more money. Morris testified that when he returned, Appellant appeared nervous and paranoid and his face and forehead were wet. He was perspiring and had changed his clothing. According to Morris, he was also carrying $600.00  $700.00 in cash, as opposed to the relatively small sums he had brought back from his previous trips. James Cavitt, a friend of Johnson's, testified that he had last seen Johnson around daybreak on April 2nd and that she had given him some money to take care of her dog. She told Cavitt she was leaving town to accompany her brother on a vacation to Michigan and mentioned that she wanted her brother to also take Appellant back to his home in Ann Arbor. When Johnson opened her purse to give him the money, Cavitt saw four one hundred dollar bills in the purse. Shirley Beasley, a neighbor, knocked on Johnson's door around 10:00 a.m. on April 2nd to see if Johnson needed a ride to work. No one responded. Larry Jackson, Appellant's cousin, arrived at the Johnson residence around 11:00 a.m. that day. The door was slightly ajar, but when he went inside and called out, no one answered. Appellant claimed he discovered Johnson's body when he returned to the residence at about 1:00 a.m. on April 3rd. He summoned Johnson's sister, Vanessa Lawson, and they telephoned emergency services for assistance. A paramedic who arrived shortly thereafter noted swelling and bruising on Johnson's face and blood in her eyes. Her body was in full rigor mortis. He also noticed that her purse and change purse were lying open on the floor and that their contents were strewn across the floor. Assistant Chief Lear and Detective Tracy House of the Mayfield Police Department then arrived and searched the residence. House took the purse and change purse as evidence. Appellant was arrested for Johnson's murder on April 3, 1999, after the police received information about his behavior from Morris. A jailhouse informant, James Joy, testified that he shared a jail cell with Appellant while Appellant was awaiting trial and that Appellant confessed to him that he had killed Johnson. Another jailhouse informant, Gerome Owens, was housed in an adjacent cell. He testified that he overheard Appellant telling Joy that he and Johnson had argued because she refused to lend him more money, and that he struck Johnson with a vase or lamp, then strangled her to death and stole her money. Thus, the Commonwealth proved that Appellant had both motive and opportunity to kill Johnson. He went to her residence during the time period within which Johnson was killed for the purpose of obtaining money and returned with several hundred dollars. Two persons who went to Johnson's residence shortly thereafter obtained no response to their knocks and calls. Johnson was observed to have a large sum of money in her purse before Appellant went to her house and the purse was found open and empty near her body after her death. Two persons testified that Appellant confessed to the murder. A reasonable jury could believe from this evidence that Appellant murdered Johnson and stole her money for the purpose of purchasing crack cocaine. Commonwealth v. Benham, Ky., 816 S.W.2d 186, 187 (1991).