Opinion ID: 2494456
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Rigterink has not raised this issue on appeal. However, [i]n death penalty cases, whether or not insufficiency of the evidence or proportionality is an issue presented for review, the court shall review these issues and, if necessary, remand for the appropriate relief. Fla. R.App. P. 9.142(a)(6); see also Blake v. State, 972 So.2d 839, 850 (Fla.2007). In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, the question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, a rational trier of fact could have found the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Bradley v. State, 787 So.2d 732, 738 (Fla.2001) (citing Banks v. State, 732 So.2d 1065, 1067 n. 5 (Fla.1999)). In this case, the evidence is sufficient to affirm Rigterink's convictions of first-degree murder. Rigterink's involvement in these events is revealed in his statements that were read to the jury. Rigterink's bloody fingerprints were found at the scene, and the police found DNA under Jarvis's fingernails that was consistent with Rigterink's DNA. Further, police found blood in Rigterink's truck that was genetically consistent with that of Jarvis. There were also eyewitness descriptions of two men in an altercation outside the warehouse where the bodies were found that were consistent with the physical characteristics and appearances of Rigterink and Jarvis. Moreover, a witness in unit 1 provided a description of Sousa's attacker that was consistent with Rigterink's appearance on the day of the murders, and the clothing Rigterink was wearing on the day of the murders was consistent with the clothing of the person who attacked Sousa and Jarvis. Therefore, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence to support the convictions of first-degree murder.