Opinion ID: 2320980
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Sufficiency Review of First Degree Murder Conviction

Text: When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence for first degree murder, we are obliged to determine whether the evidence presented at trial and all reasonable inferences derived therefrom, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as verdict winner, are sufficient to satisfy all elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Commonwealth v. Brown, 605 Pa. 103, 987 A.2d 699, 705 (2009) (citing Commonwealth v. Baumhammers, 599 Pa. 1, 960 A.2d 59, 68 (2008)). To obtain a first-degree murder conviction, the Commonwealth must demonstrate that a human being was unlawfully killed, the defendant perpetrated the killing, and the defendant acted with malice and a specific intent to kill. Commonwealth v. Montalvo, 604 Pa. 386, 986 A.2d 84, 92 (2009) (quoting Commonwealth v. Kennedy, 598 Pa. 621, 959 A.2d 916, 920 (2008)). An intentional killing is a [k]illing by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate and premeditated killing. 18 Pa.C.S. § 2502(d). The Commonwealth may use solely circumstantial evidence to prove a killing was intentional, and the fact-finder `may infer that the defendant had the specific intent to kill the victim based on the defendants use of a deadly weapon upon a vital part of the victims body.' Brown, 987 A.2d at 705 (quoting Commonwealth v. Blakeney, 596 Pa. 510, 946 A.2d 645, 651 (2008)). We find the Commonwealth provided sufficient evidence to prove each element of first degree murder. Appellant called off work the day after the victim was last seen. The next morning, a van was seen driving slowly through the parking lot where, a short time later, the victim's body was found. The victim's blood was found in appellant's residence and his van. Appellant's DNA was found under the victim's fingernails and on her body. Clothes and other evidence containing the victim's blood were found along a route between appellant's residence and his place of employment, shortly after he appeared for work. The tablecloth found on the side of the road was stained with the victim's and appellant's blood. Dr. Smith, who performed the autopsy on the victim's body, testified the victim suffered from ten lacerations to her head and face caused by a round blunt object. She suffered two broken ribs, multiple bruises, fractures at the base and back of her skull and a brain laceration, and died from blunt force head trauma. This evidence allowed the jury to find the victim was unlawfully killed, appellant killed her, and he acted with malice and a specific intent to kill.