Opinion ID: 2581989
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Issue Four: Sufficiency of the evidence to sustain convictions for first degree murder

Text: [¶ 82] Duke contends that his first degree murder convictions cannot stand because the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence that he killed his wife and son and he did so with premeditated malice. This Court's standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence claims is well settled: When reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim in a criminal case, we must determine whether a rational trier of fact could find the essential elements of the crime were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We do not consider conflicting evidence presented by the unsuccessful party, and afford every favorable inference which may be reasonably and fairly drawn from the successful party's evidence. We have consistently held that it is the jury's responsibility to resolve conflicts in the evidence. `We will not substitute our judgment for that of the jury, ... our only duty is to determine whether a quorum of reasonable and rational individuals would, or even could, have come to the same result as the jury actually did.' [ Bloomquist v. State, 914 P.2d 812, 824 (Wyo. 1996)]. Urbigkit, at ¶ 44 (quoting Williams v. State, 986 P.2d 855, 857 (Wyo.1999) (alterations in original)). [¶ 83] Duke was charged with two counts of first degree premeditated murder, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-101(a). Consequently, the prosecution had the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that, on or about the 10th day of August, 1996, in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, Duke purposely and with premeditated malice killed Liana Mae Duke and Erik Robert Duke. [¶ 84] In Bouwkamp v. State, 833 P.2d 486, 493 (Wyo.1992), this Court reiterated the meaning of premeditation: [Premeditation] is the thinking over, deliberating upon, weighing in the mind beforehand, resulting in a deliberate intention to kill which constitutes the killing murder in the first degree. Parker v. State, 24 Wyo. 491, 502, 161 P. 552, 555 (1916). Premeditation may be inferred from the facts and circumstances. Murry v. State, 713 P.2d 202, 206 (Wyo.1986); Goodman v. State, 573 P.2d 400, 407 (Wyo. 1977). Premeditation need not have existed for any given length of time before the act, it being sufficient that it existed at the time of the act; and the intent and the act may be as instantaneous as successive thoughts. Young v. State, 849 P.2d 754, 761 (Wyo.1993) (quoting Murry, 713 P.2d at 207). [¶ 85] In Bouwkamp, this Court adopted a three-part test for determining whether the trial evidence was sufficient to sustain a verdict of premeditated murder: Evidence sufficient to sustain a finding of premeditation and deliberation falls into three basic categories: (1) facts about    what a defendant did prior to the actual killing which show that the defendant was engaged in activity directed toward, and explicable as intended to result in, the killingwhat may be characterized as `planning' activity; (2) facts about the defendant's prior relationship and/or conduct with the victim from which the jury could reasonably infer a `motive' to kill the victim, which inference of motive, together with facts of type (1) or (3) would    support an inference that the killing was the result of `a pre-existing reflection' and `careful thought and weighing of considerations' rather than `mere unconsidered or rash impulse hastily executed'; (3) facts about the nature of the killing from which the jury could infer that the manner of killing was so particular and exacting that the defendant must have intentionally killed according to a `preconceived design' to take [the] victim's life in a particular way for a `reason' which the jury can reasonably infer from facts of type (1) or (2). People v. Crandell, 46 Cal.3d 833, 760 P.2d 423, 441, 251 Cal.Rptr. 227 (1988) (quoting People v. Anderson, 70 Cal.2d 15, 447 P.2d 942, 949, 73 Cal.Rptr. 550, 557 (1968)) (citations omitted). [V]erdicts of first degree murder typically [are sustained] when there is evidence of all three types and otherwise require at least extremely strong evidence of (1) or evidence of (2) in conjunction with either (1) or (3). People v. Anderson, 70 Cal.2d 15, 447 P.2d at 949, 73 Cal.Rptr. at 557. Bouwkamp, 833 P.2d at 494-95 (emphasis and alterations in original). [¶ 86] As shown in more detail in the General Background Facts portion of this opinion, the jury had before it sufficient evidence from which it could reasonably conclude that Duke purposely and with premeditated malice killed his wife and son on August 10, 1996. The jury heard evidence that Duke wanted his wife and son dead. Within a few months before their deaths, Duke actively pursued Roger Brauberger to kill them. He initially offered Brauberger $15,000, and later agreed to pay him $23,000 to do the job. Duke suggested a plan by which the killings could be accomplished and divert suspicion away from him. That evidence supports a reasonable inference that Duke was engaged in activity directed toward and explicable as intended to result in the killing of his wife and child. That Duke planned to kill them is further supported by evidence that he initiated that fatal trip, he took them to an isolated area he had been to on prior occasions, and he gave varying and conflicting accounts of the events surrounding their deaths. [¶ 87] With respect to the second category in the Bouwkamp analysis, the jury heard evidence about Duke's relationship with his wife and child that suggests a motive or motives to murder them. That evidence revealed that he was less than a faithful and loving husband and father. The evidence indicated that he was verbally abusive toward them and had been involved with other women during the marriage. It also revealed that he was cold toward his child and never really bonded with him. The jury also heard evidence that Duke was looking for a way out of the marriage, other than divorce, which would enable him to avoid a long-term child support obligation. The jury further heard that, approximately two weeks after their deaths, Duke collected $60,000 in life insurance proceeds. From that evidence, the jury could reasonably have inferred that he killed his wife and son to obtain his freedom from an unwanted relationship. The jury could also have inferred greed as a motivating factor to kill, whether it was Duke's desire to avoid the monetary obligation of child support or to get the proceeds of their life insurance policies. That greed was the motivating factor to kill could also be inferred from Duke's attempts to hire Brauberger to kill his parents, murders which would have resulted in a substantial monetary gain for him. Those motives, coupled with his planning activities, are certainly sufficient to justify an inference of premeditation. [¶ 88] Regarding the final category, the jury was presented with evidence that his wife and son suffered a tragic death. Both died from injuries sustained during a fall down the face of a two hundred foot rocky cliff. The prosecution's theory at trial was that Duke intentionally took his wife and son to that cliff, which was located in an isolated area miles from the nearest town, pushed them over the edge of the cliff, and made sure they were dead before notifying the authorities. Consequently, there was evidence of all three aspects of the Bouwkamp analysis from which the jury could reasonably infer that Duke purposely and with premeditated malice killed his wife and child.