Opinion ID: 2202924
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Credibility of Accomplice

Text: The defendant's second contention is that the testimony of Sean Ritchie, an avowed accomplice, is so incredible that it was reversible error for the justice below to rely thereon, as he had to, in finding Reardon guilty of both felony murder and robbery. He advances multiple reasons for this conclusion. (1) First, he points to Ritchie's extensive criminal record which is of a serious nature. But a witness' believability in the light of his criminal dossier is exclusively the province of the trier of fact. In State v. Jenness, 143 Me. 380, 384, 62 A.2d 867, 869 (1948), this Court stated that the idea that one who had been convicted of a criminal offense was probably incapable of telling the truth was early recognized in Maine as incorrect and unjust. Such an individual is permitted to testify, but his convictions might be shown to affect his credibility. The degree of believability to be accorded the testimony of a witness whose credibility a party seeks to impeach by competent evidence of prior criminal convictions is just one factor to be considered by the trier of fact with all the other evidence in the case in determining what weight to give to the testimony of such a witness. That degree of credence properly to be given may depend to a great extent upon the appearance of the witness on the stand, on his air of candor and truthfulness, on his seeming intelligence and honesty, on his apparent want of bias, interest or prejudice. Competing with such characteristics, the witness' conviction of crime may influence the trier of fact in disbelieving that witness' story in whole or in part. Ritchie's criminal record was a question of fact for the consideration of the presiding justice in this case in assessing the probative value of his testimony in light of all the other evidence. (2) Secondly, Reardon raises Ritchie's admitted abuse of drugs prior to the assault on Mr. Webb as impairing his mental capacity to such an extent that his testimony regarding what happened could not rationally be believed by any trier of fact. We disagree. It was within the province of the presiding justice in this case to determine, whether Ritchie's story was reasonable or unreasonable in view of all the testimony and to what degree his use of drugs on the occasion affected his mental processes and dimmed his memory respecting the events that took place. The fact that a witness was under the influence of drugs at the time of the observations he made respecting an event to which he testifies does not necessarily make his testimony inherently unworthy of credit. The particular circumstances of each case must be evaluated by the trier of fact to determine whether the witness' drug-related condition made him incapable of accurate registration and true reproduction of the details of the occurrence involved. See State v. Bleyl, 435 A.2d 1349, 1360-61 (Me.1981); State v. Manchester, 142 Me. 163, 164, 48 A.2d 626, 626-27 (1946). (3) Another reason for discounting Ritchie's truthfulness, says Reardon, is his personal interest in throwing more blame on the defendant's conduct than on his own. He asserts that they had had a falling-out and Ritchie wanted revenge, and, even if he was not so motivated, Ritchie colored his testimony against Reardon so as to obtain personal favor with the State in anticipation of sentence on his plea of guilty to felony murder which he had already given as part of a plea-bargaining agreement. An accomplice's motivations, whether of a self-interest or retaliatory nature, are only circumstances for consideration by the trier of fact in assessing that witness' credibility. The weight of the evidence and the determination of witness credibility are factors within the exclusive province of the trier of fact. State v. Ruprecht, 458 A.2d 418, 419 (Me.1983); State v. Gleason, 359 A.2d 308, 313 (Me.1976); State v. Mann, 361 A.2d 897, 907 (Me.1976). This rule applies, even if the criminal conviction rests on the uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice. State v. Jewell, 285 A.2d 847, 851 (Me. 1972). See also State v. Wentworth, 366 A.2d 178 (Me.1976). (4) Lastly, Reardon questions Ritchie's testimony as too vague and so inconsistent with prior statements made by him that no fact finder rationally could accept his account of the events as proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Again, we disagree. It is the task of the fact finder, here the presiding justice, to resolve inconsistencies and conflicts in the testimony of witnesses, and this is so, even where the inconsistency and conflict exist in the testimony of the State's principal witness. See State v. Heald, 367 A.2d 1372 (Me.1977); State v. Fournier, 267 A.2d 638, 641 (Me. 1970). We have examined the whole record with care to determine whether, in view of all the evidence, including all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, the presiding justice as the fact finder was justified in believing beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of the crimes of robbery and felony murder as charged. We must answer in the affirmative, because, after examining all the evidence of record in the light most favorable to the State, we, as the Law Court, cannot conclude that no trier of fact could rationally find proof of the defendant's guilt of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Sanborn, 440 A.2d 1056, 1057 (Me. 1982); State v. Van Sickle, 434 A.2d 31, 35 (Me.1981); State v. Perfetto, 424 A.2d 1095, 1097 (Me.1981).