Opinion ID: 1306538
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Scheidt contends that the trial court erred at the conclusion of the People's case in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the ground that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a felony-murder conviction. In support of that contention, the defendant argues that each element of the underlying felony must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to sustain a felony-murder conviction. He claims that the People, in relying upon the crime of robbery to support the felony-murder charge, failed to present evidence of a specific intent to steal. See C.R.S.1963, 40-5-1; People v. Gallegos, 130 Colo. 232, 274 P.2d 608 (1954); and United States v. Nedley, 255 F.2d 350 (3d Cir. 1958). When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, it must be examined in the light most favorable to the prosecution. People v. Vigil, Colo., 502 P.2d 418 (1972); Southard v. People, 174 Colo. 324, 483 P.2d 962 (1971); Bennett v. People, 155 Colo. 101, 392 P.2d 657 (1964). Judged by this standard, Scheidt's claim that the evidence is insufficient to prove specific intent must fail. The People presented witnesses who testified that Scheidt told them that he had gone in to rob the store, because he needed some money to get [a] girl out of jail. . . . These admissions by the defendant disclose an intent to deprive the grocery store proprietor of the use and benefit of his property. The defendant's mother testified in his behalf and voiced the opinion that Scheidt did not have the requisite mental capacity to form an intent to steal during his younger years. In relating an incident which occurred when her son, at age thirteen ran away from home and was found in a hobby shop, she said: As a matter of fact, he hadn't broken in the store, but somehow or other he had found a key to the store that was left outside, unlocked the door, and went in, more for shelter than anything else. In response, the People introduced rebuttal evidence through the testimony of the police officer who arrested Scheidt inside the hobby shop which contradicted the mother's version of the events and tended to show that Scheidt could form a specific intent at that time. In addition, the court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Cohen, was called as a rebuttal witness by the People and expressed the opinion that Scheidt, at the time of his examination, possessed the mental capacity to form a specific intent. [1] There is no question that the issue of specific intent was thoroughly presented. Upon the evidence introduced reasonable men could differ, and the question was, therefore, properly left for the jury's determination.