Opinion ID: 1059907
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Rulings on sufficiency of evidence

Text: Jackson contends that the court erred in overruling his motions to strike made at the conclusion of the Commonwealth's case and after both parties had rested their case in the guilt phase because the Commonwealth's evidence was insufficient to convict him of the crime of attempted robbery. He bases his claim upon the Commonwealth's alleged failure to sustain its burden of proving that this crime has been committed (the corpus delicti). Maughs v. City of Charlottesville, 181 Va. 117, 120, 23 S.E.2d 784, 786 (1943) (Commonwealth must prove corpus delicti in every criminal prosecution); Nicholas v. Commonwealth, 91 Va. 741, 750, 21 S.E. 364, 366-67 (1895) (Commonwealth's burden to establish corpus delicti); see also Epperly v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 214, 228-29, 294 S.E.2d 882, 890-91 (1982). Jackson's statements, as successively amended, show clearly that, pursuant to the agreement with his friends, Jackson retrieved the .25 caliber handgun from the Jeep for the purpose of robbing Bonney, and that, during the robbery attempt, when Bonney refused to give him his money, Jackson stepped out of the vehicle and fired the gun three times, killing Bonney. [5] While Jackson recognizes that his statements tend to show the corpus delicti of attempted robbery, he argues correctly that the corpus delicti cannot be established solely by his uncorroborated statements. Wheeler v. Commonwealth, 192 Va. 665, 669, 66 S.E.2d 605, 607 (1951). However, only slight corroboration of an accused's statements is required to establish the corpus delicti when the accused fully confesses that he committed the crime. Clozza v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 124, 133, 321 S.E.2d 273, 279 (1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1233, 84 L.Ed.2d 370 (1985); Lucas v. Commonwealth, 201 Va. 599, 603, 112 S.E.2d 915, 918 (1960). Jackson's confession of the attempted robbery and murder of Bonney was corroborated in many respects. The passenger who came to the scene in Bonney's Blazer testified that, after discussing where to buy crack cocaine, Bonney and the passenger went to a house in Norfolk where the passenger knew he could buy drugs. When they arrived, the passenger directed Bonney to wait in the Blazer while he went into the house to make the purchase. Lakisha Spruill, an eyewitness who was seated on the porch of a house next door, saw the passenger leave the Blazer and enter the house while the driver remained in the Blazer. Spruill, who had known Jackson for some time, saw him get into the passenger's side of the Blazer, talk to the driver, and the [n]ext thing I heard was gunshots. The circumstantial evidence at the scene of the murder also corroborated Jackson's statements. A police investigator identified Outlaw's palm print on the driver's door of Bonney's vehicle and also testified that the keys to Bonney's vehicle were not found in the Blazer, supporting Jackson's statement that Outlaw had reached into the car and removed the keys to prevent Bonney from driving away. In our opinion, these circumstances corroborate Jackson's confession that he had killed Bonney during an attempted robbery. The evidence demonstrates that the defendant and a confederate converged upon a stranger and engaged in conduct designed to prevent the stranger from fleeing while the defendant spoke to him and carried a loaded pistol. This corroborating evidence is consistent with a reasonable inference that Jackson was attempting to rob Bonney when he shot him. Indeed, this corroborating evidence is more consistent with the commission of the offense than it is with its non-commission. See Wright v. Commonwealth, 245 Va. at 194, 427 S.E.2d at 390 (confession to attempted rape corroborated by discovery of victim's underpants which had been removed and were found at crime scene); cf. Phillips v. Commonwealth, 202 Va. 207, 212, 116 S.E.2d 282, 285 (1960) (corroborating evidence just as consistent with non-commission of the offense as it is with its commission).