Opinion ID: 2624981
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: motion for arrest of judgment

Text: ¶ 20 Defendant appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for arrest of judgment, arguing that the trial court should have arrested judgment for insufficient evidence. The standard for determining whether a trial court correctly granted or denied a motion for arrest of judgment is the same standard appellate courts apply in determining whether a jury verdict should be set aside for insufficient evidence. See State v. Workman, 852 P.2d 981, 984 (Utah 1993). Under that standard, a trial court may arrest a jury verdict when the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, is so inconclusive or so inherently improbable as to an element of the crime that reasonable minds must have entertained a reasonable doubt as to that element. Id. ¶ 21 The evidence here was sufficient. Within an hour and one-half of the robbery, police stopped a car matching the victim's description. Defendant was the only passenger in that car. The victim told police that the robber brandished a gun, and police found lead pellets from a pellet gun in the front passenger seat of the car. The victim also told police that the robber was wearing a button-up shirt or a jacket over a tee shirt and a bandana or hat on his head. Defendant had a bandana in one of his pockets at the time he was arrested, and the police found a denim jacket on the floor behind the passenger's side of the Cadillac. At a showup an hour and one-half after the robbery, the victim identified defendant, telling police that he was a nine and a half on a ten point scale in terms of his certainty of the identification. ¶ 22 In contrast, there is little evidence that could undermine our confidence in the verdict. First, in describing the robber to Officer Wind, Boyadjieff stated that the robber was approximately his own height, which was six feet two inches, and defendant was six feet five inches. Additionally, police did not find the gun used or the money taken in the robbery on defendant or in the car. Finally, defendant offered as alibi evidence the testimony of his brother's girlfriend, who testified that defendant did not leave the house until 9:45 p.m., approximately forty-five minutes after the robbery took place. She said that she was with defendant the entire day, listening to music, playing Nintendo, and watching television. However, she could not provide any information about what food they ate or what clothes they were wearing. Furthermore, when defendant was interviewed by police after the showup that night, he gave no indication that he spent the day with her. ¶ 23 On appeal we will not reweigh the evidence or disturb the jury's verdict unless the evidence is so inconclusive or inherently improbable that reasonable minds must have entertained a reasonable doubt as to an element of the crime. Defendant has not shown that the evidence in this case is so lacking as to meet this standard. We therefore affirm the trial court's denial of defendant's motion for arrest of judgment.