Opinion ID: 1057596
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: When evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine whether  any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). In making this determination, we afford the prosecution the strongest legitimate view of the evidence as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences which may be drawn therefrom. State v. Bland, 958 S.W.2d 651, 659 (Tenn.1997). Questions concerning the credibility of the witnesses, the weight to be given the evidence, and factual issues raised by the evidence are resolved by the trier of fact. Id. Because a verdict of guilt removes the presumption of innocence and imposes a presumption of guilt, the defendant upon conviction bears the burden of showing why the evidence is insufficient to support the verdict. State v. Rice, 184 S.W.3d 646, 661 (Tenn.2006); State v. Tuggle, 639 S.W.2d 913, 914 (Tenn. 1982). This standard is identical whether the conviction is predicated on direct or circumstantial evidence. State v. Casper, 297 S.W.3d 676, 683 (Tenn.2009); State v. Brown, 551 S.W.2d 329, 331 (Tenn.1977). In the absence of direct evidence, a criminal offense may be established entirely by circumstantial evidence. Duchac v. State, 505 S.W.2d 237, 241 (Tenn.1973); Marable v. State, 203 Tenn. 440, 313 S.W.2d 451, 456-58 (1958). We have traditionally held, however, that, before the trier of fact convicts a defendant on circumstantial evidence alone, the evidence must be so strong and cogent as to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save the guilt of the defendant, and that beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Crawford, 225 Tenn. 478, 470 S.W.2d 610, 612 (1971). A web of guilt must be woven around the defendant from which he cannot escape and from which facts and circumstances the jury could draw no other reasonable inferences save the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 613. The weight of circumstantial evidence, the inferences to draw from such evidence, and the extent to which that evidence is consistent with guilt are all questions for the jury. State v. James, 315 S.W.3d 440, 456 (Tenn.2010); Smith v. State, 205 Tenn. 502, 327 S.W.2d 308, 317 (1959).
Tennessee's criminal code provides as follows: Tampering with or fabricating evidence.(a) It is unlawful for any person, knowing that an investigation or official proceeding is pending or in progress, to: (1) Alter, destroy, or conceal any record, document or thing with intent to impair its verity, legibility, or availability as evidence in the investigation or official proceeding[.] Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-16-503(a)(1) (2006). Thus, the felony offense of tampering with evidence consists of three elements: (1) an ongoing investigation about which the accused knows, (2) the accused alters, destroys, or conceals some record, document or thing, and (3) the accused tampers with the record, document or thing in order to impair its use as evidence in the investigation. Here, Defendant maintains that the evidence was insufficient in two respects. First, Defendant contends that the evidence did not establish his knowledge of an investigation that was pending or in progress. Second, Defendant argues that the evidence did not establish the identity of the precise thing that defendant altered, concealed, or destroyed, or even that he altered, concealed, or destroyed any thing at all.