Opinion ID: 1342412
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of Evidence Supporting First Degree Murder

Text: The Appellant also asserts that the evidence at trial did not support a conviction for first-degree murder. He maintains that he was simply the victim of an unprovoked attack and that he fired the weapon only in self-defense. This Court has consistently recognized the extensive obligation of a criminal defendant in challenging the evidence supporting a conviction. Syllabus point three of State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995), addresses the burden faced by a defendant in such a challenge, as follows. A criminal defendant challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction takes on a heavy burden. An appellate court must review all the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, in the light most favorable to the prosecution and must credit all inferences and credibility assessments that the jury might have drawn in favor of the prosecution. The evidence need not be inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilt so long as the jury can find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Credibility determinations are for a jury and not an appellate court. Finally, a jury verdict should be set aside only when the record contains no evidence, regardless of how it is weighed, from which the jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To the extent that our prior cases are inconsistent, they are expressly overruled. Syllabus point one of Guthrie explains the function of an appellate court in evaluating the evidence, as follows: The function of an appellate court when reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction is to examine the evidence admitted at trial to determine whether such evidence, if believed, is sufficient to convince a reasonable person of the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, the relevant inquiry is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The evaluation of a sufficiency of evidence argument on appeal was also discussed in syllabus point two of State v. LaRock, 196 W.Va. 294, 470 S.E.2d 613 (1996), as follows: When a criminal defendant undertakes a sufficiency challenge, all the evidence, direct and circumstantial, must be viewed from the prosecutor's coign of vantage, and the viewer must accept all reasonable inferences from it that are consistent with the verdict. This rule requires the trial court judge to resolve all evidentiary conflicts and credibility questions in the prosecution's favor; moreover, as among competing inferences of which two or more are plausible, the judge must choose the inference that best fits the prosecution's theory of guilt. The undisputed evidence presented in the case sub judice indicated that the Appellant shot and killed Chapman and Gauze. In testimony describing the circumstances under which such murders occurred, the State presented evidence that the Appellant and Banig advised Brewer, during negotiations regarding a sale of guns prior to the murders, that they intended to keep the pistol for the weekend and that they may need to use it. The State also presented evidence that Chapman and Gauze were unarmed as they entered the trailer, that there were no confrontational wounds on the bodies, and that the shots were fired almost immediately after Chapman and Gauze entered the hallway of the trailer. Testimony established that Chapman and Gauze had arrived at the trailer with beer, intending to party and drink. The State also presented evidence indicating that Chapman was shot execution-style in the head after sustaining a fatal shot in the back. In light of the evidence in the record regarding the facts of this case, we conclude that abundant evidence existed to sustain the Appellant's conviction for first-degree murder under the sufficiency of the evidence test enunciated in syllabus point one of Guthrie. This Court has reviewed all the evidence in a light most favorable to the State, as directed by this Court in Guthrie. The record contains sufficient evidence, both direct and circumstantial, to convince a reasonable person of the Appellant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We consequently find no merit to the Appellant's contention of insufficiency of evidence.