Opinion ID: 1715240
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: We first consider the defendant's assertion in assignment of error no. 7 that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime of first degree murder. Specifically, the defendant argues that his conviction rests solely on the testimony of his accomplices, who placed the blame on the defendant alone and who all received lesser sentences because of plea bargains with the State. The defendant argues that their testimony is inconsistent and unreliable. He further contends the evidence does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he killed any of the victims in this case. Instead, the defendant argues, the evidence shows that Derrick Jackson likely fired the shots that killed the victims, as there was testimony that Jackson fired the assault rifle at the victims' car from behind, that the shots that killed the victims came from behind, and that none of the victims fled their vehicle after it struck the truck. The evidence, in the defendant's view, establishes that the robbery and attack were planned and carried out by Toney and Derrick Jackson. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, an appellate court in Louisiana is controlled by the standard enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 678 (La.1984). Under this standard, the appellate court must determine that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that all of the elements of the crime had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. In Louisiana, as a general principle of law, a conviction may be sustained on the uncorroborated testimony of a purported accomplice, although the jury should be instructed to treat such testimony with great caution. [2] State v. May, 339 So.2d 764, 774 (La.1976); see also State v. Howard, 98-0064, p. 14 (La.4/23/99), 751 So.2d 783, 801. However, when the accomplice's testimony is corroborated by other evidence, such language is not required. Howard, p. 14, 751 So.2d at 801. After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, we conclude the defendant's insufficient evidence argument fails for several reasons. First, in the instant case, all three of defendant's purported accomplices testified against him. While there may have been minor inconsistencies in their testimony, all three testified that the four men went to Thomas's trailer in the defendant's white Cutlass to obtain narcotics and that, after Toney observed money and drugs in the trailer, the group decided to rob the men. Toney, Gross, and Williams also testified that the group went to the home of Derrick Jackson's aunt to get an SKS assault rifle before going to meet the other men, and that the defendant got out of his car, with the SKS assault rifle, at the intersection of Rheames Road and Milldale. Toney, Gross, and Williams testified that the defendant came out of the bushes firing the SKS at the Toyota Corolla the victims were driving. Furthermore, these witnesses testified that when the Corolla took off, the defendant got into the Cutlass, handed the gun to Derrick Jackson, and chased down the Corolla while Jackson fired at the car from the sunroof. The defendant's accomplices also testified that when the Corolla crashed, the defendant then took the SKS rifle from Jackson, approached the vehicle, and repeatedly fired the gun into the car. The State also presented physical evidence corroborating the witnesses' testimony and the defendant's involvement. This evidence included the fact that co-defendant Gross led police to where the assault rifle was located. Bullets retrieved from the victims, as well as casings and bullet fragments found at the scenes, were matched to this weapon. In addition, blood having DNA consistent with the DNA of one of the deceased victims was found on the defendant's shoe. Furthermore, the State introduced a threatening letter from the defendant to his co-perpetrator, Williams, which was written while the defendant was incarcerated and awaiting trial and which implicated him in the instant crimes. The trier of fact makes credibility determinations and may, within the bounds of rationality, accept or reject the testimony of any witness; thus, a reviewing court may impinge upon the fact finder's discretion only to the extent necessary to guarantee the fundamental protection of due process of law. State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305, 1310 (La.1988). The jury in the instant case made reasonable credibility determinations in favor of the State and rationally accepted the testimony of the defendant's accomplices, corroborated as it was by the physical evidence. The defendant also argues that there was no direct evidence he was the person who fired the fatal shots and that the medical evidence and testimony of the co-defendants indicates the fatal wounds were most likely inflicted by Derrick Jackson when he was firing at the Corolla from the sunroof of the defendant's Cutlass. However, testimony from the assistant coroner, who performed the autopsies on the deceased victims, and from the State's firearm identification expert established that the victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds to different parts of their bodies and that multiple shots were fired upon the victims' vehicle from several directions. Jackson had ten gunshot wounds, two of which struck the back of his head and three of which struck his abdomen. The wounds to either the head or the abdomen could have resulted in death. And one of the wounds to the head was caused by a tumbling bullet, that is, one that had struck another object before striking the victim. Rowe suffered four gunshot wounds, one of which entered the back of his chest and another entered the lower back on the right side; the latter perforated internal organs that resulted in exsanguination. Billie suffered seven gunshot wounds, including one to the back of his head, also caused by a tumbling bullet, and another to the back of the left chest. Either wound would have been fatal, according to the assistant coroner. Finally, the firearms identification expert counted eighteen shots to the victims' vehicle: four shots from the rear, six shots along the driver's side, and eight shots from the front passenger's side. This evidence indicates that the fatal shots could have come from a direction other than only the rear of the vehicle. At any rate, so long as the State sufficiently proves that the defendant is a principal and that he possessed the requisite specific intent, a conviction for first degree murder will be upheld. See State v. Anthony, 98-0406, pp. 11-14 (La.4/11/00), 776 So.2d 376, 385-86; State v. Brooks, 505 So.2d 714, 717-18 (La.1987); State v. Holmes, 388 So.2d 722 (La.1980). Here, the defendant was charged as a principal. A principal is anyone concerned in the commission of a crime, whether present or absent ... whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, aid and abet in its commission, or directly or indirectly counsel or procure another to commit the crime. La.Rev.Stat. 14:24. Not all principals are automatically guilty of the same grade of the offense; thus, a principal may be charged with and convicted of a higher or lower degree of the crime, depending on the mental element proved at trial. Brooks, 505 So.2d at 717, citing State v. McAllister, 366 So.2d 1340 (La. 1978). An individual may be convicted only for those crimes for which he personally has the requisite intent. It is not enough that his accomplice have the intent, the State must prove that the defendant had the required mental element. Brooks, 505 So.2d at 717; Holmes, 388 So.2d at 726. Specific intent is a state of mind that may be inferred from the circumstances of the transaction and the actions of the accused. Brooks, 505 So.2d at 717. To establish specific intent the state must show that the defendant pulled the trigger, that he acted in concert with his co-perpetrator, or that he actively acquiesced in the use of deadly force. Anthony, pp. 12-14, 776 So.2d at 386; Brooks, 505 So.2d at 718. The jury in this case rationally found that the defendant was an active principal in the offense and that he had possessed the requisite specific intent. The defendant was a willing participant with Jackson, Gross, Williams, and Toney in the lethal turn of events on Rheames Road, as evidenced by the fact that the defendant's car was used in the attack and that the defendant was the perpetrator who initially fired on the victims' vehicle, coupled with the fact that he handed the SKS to Jackson and drove the car while Jackson fired at the Corolla. Additionally, the defendant repeatedly fired the gun into the Corolla at the incapacitated occupants, after the Corolla had come to a stop. The jury reasonably rejected the defendant's theory that he was merely participating in the robbery and that he never intended for anyone to be murdered. Mussall, supra . Thus, in the instant case, a rational trier of fact could have found that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements necessary to establish that the defendant committed the first degree murders of Joseph Billie, Sylvester Rowe, and Chonnor Jackson during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an armed robbery [3] or drive-by shooting. [4] Furthermore, the trier of fact could have rationally inferred from the facts and circumstances of this case that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had acted with specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm upon the victims. Accordingly, this assignment is without merit.