Court Opinion

ID: 9468527
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:16:53.411363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:54.395493
License: Public Domain

MERRITT, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Despite the strong language used in Judge Jones’ dissenting opinion and the accusation that the majority is “acting as grand jury, prosecutor, and state trial court,” rather than as a neutral federal tribunal, I continue to adhere to my original concurrence in Judge Engel’s opinion be*436cause I continue to think that the circumstantial proof in this case is strong. The defendant was found in flight in the dead man’s car within a few hours of the murder, with the sawed off shotgun which was most likely the murder weapon under the seat. Thereafter, he made three different inconsistent statements about how he came into possession of the automobile. This ought to be sufficient circumstantial evidence for a rational jury to convict under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), if, after weighing this and all the other evidence, the jury firmly believes that the defendant is guilty of the murder beyond a reasonable doubt.