Opinion ID: 2076061
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency of the evidence of abuse.

Text: The stepfather claims that the evidence at the factfinding hearing was insufficient to support the judge's finding that he had abused S.G. He contends that S.G. was not consistent in her accounts of the alleged abuse, that the government offered no physical corroboration of her testimony, and that her good grades and normal behavior during the period in question were incompatible with the notion that she was being sexually abused. This contention need not detain us long. In cases tried by the judge without a jury, the scope of our review is circumscribed by D.C.Code § 17-305(a) (1989), which provides that the judgment may not be set aside except for errors of law unless it is plainly wrong or without evidence to support it. As we recently noted in In re T.M., 577 A.2d 1149, 1151 (D.C.1990), a juvenile delinquency proceeding in which guilt was required to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt rather than, as here, by the lesser standard of preponderance of the evidence, [4] [i]n evaluating appellants' claim of evidentiary insufficiency, we must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, giving full play to the right of the judge, as the trier of fact, to determine credibility, weigh the evidence, and draw reasonable inferences.... The government is entitled to the benefit of all reasonable inferences from the evidence, nor may any distinction be drawn between direct and circumstantial evidence. [Citations omitted]. The trial judge presided over the factfinding hearing and was able to observe and assess the demeanor of the witnesses. This court, on the other hand, is limited to a paper record which may capture the words of a case but not its heart and soul. In re T.M., supra, 577 A.2d at 1154. An appellate court will not redetermine the credibility of witnesses where, as here, the trial court had the opportunity to observe their demeanor and form a conclusion. WSM, Inc. v. Hilton, 724 F.2d 1320, 1328 (8th Cir.1984). The judge expressly credited S.G.'s testimony, despite some inconsistencies in it, specifically alluding to her candor in declining to exaggerate when the opportunity arose. The judge also made it clear that he disbelieved the testimony of her stepfather. This court may not usurp the prerogative of the judge, as the trier of fact, to determine credibility and weigh the evidence. Irick v. United States, 565 A.2d 26, 30 (D.C.1989). Were we to second-guess the trial judge's determination that, with respect to the critical facts, S.G. was worthy of belief and her stepfather was not, we would be engaging in the very usurpation which § 17-305(a) and our precedents proscribe.