Opinion ID: 2232885
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Finally, the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, [7] bars a retrial even where the defendant requests it as hereif the reviewing court concludes that the evidence was legally insufficient to support the conviction. Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 98 S.Ct. 2141, 57 L.Ed.2d 1 (1978) (reversal by federal appeals court for evidentiary insufficiency was functional equivalent of judgment of acquittal that could not be waived); Greene v. Massey, 437 U.S. 19, 98 S.Ct. 2151, 57 L.Ed.2d 15 (1978) (applying Burks to state criminal proceedings). Champlain asserts there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for murder. In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we do not reweigh evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. A conviction will be affirmed if the probative evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Wooden v. State, 657 N.E.2d 109, 111 (Ind.1995). The jury could have concluded from the evidence that Champlain knowingly killed Sherri Vanlue. Indeed, his statement that Vanlue lied to me, so I shot her could be viewed as an admission of intentional or knowing murder. In any event, Jamison testified that Champlain fired into a trailer home at close range aware that Vanlue was inside. Vanlue's voice could have permitted Champlain to form a conclusion as to her location even if visibility was blocked by the door. Champlain's expressions of intent to kill both before and after the shooting, if also credited, bolster the jury's verdict. The intent to commit murder may be inferred from the nature of the attack and the circumstances surrounding the crime. Pilarski v. State, 635 N.E.2d 166, 169 (Ind.1994). Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and the Double Jeopardy Clause does not bar a retrial for murder.