Opinion ID: 853611
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Thompson next contends that there is insufficient evidence to rebut his alibi defense. Our standard of review for sufficiency claims is well settled. We do not reweigh evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. Rather, we look to the evidence and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom that support the verdict and will affirm the conviction if there is probative evidence from which a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Taylor v. State, 681 N.E.2d 1105, 1110 (Ind.1997). The State is not required to rebut directly a defendant's alibi but may disprove the alibi by proving its own case-in-chief beyond a reasonable doubt. Lott v. State, 690 N.E.2d 204, 209 (Ind.1997). Based on his timeline of the evening of the killing, Thompson contends that the uncontroverted evidence at trial established that it was impossible for him to have killed Scott. We disagree. Pearline testified that Thompson left Milwaukee at approximately 10:30 p.m. and returned around 7:00 a.m. A State's witness testified that the drive from the Paradise Lounge to Pearline's house took him three hours and twenty minutes. [1] Scott was last seen alive at approximately 3:00 a.m. In light of this evidence, Thompson had a forty-minute window (between 3:00 a.m. and 3:40 a.m.) in which to enter the lounge and shoot Scott before returning to Milwaukee. [2] There was sufficient evidence to rebut Thompson's alibi that he was in Milwaukee at the time of the killing.