Court Opinion

ID: 9497817
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 17:00:44.012373+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:26.127685
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent. I agree with the conclusion of Magistrate Judge Jerry W. Cavaneau, who granted the writ in the district court, setting aside Sera’s conviction for rape of Tammy Deal in connection with the Macaroni Grill incident. The Magistrate Judge stated:
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state and presuming that all reasonable inferences were drawn in favor of the state, no rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in the record that [Sera] was guilty of raping the victim as charged in Count 5 of the information and as defined by Arkansas law. See Ward v. Lockhart, 841 F.2d 844, 847-48 (8th Cir.1988) (“Without that essential proof [of every element of the offense of burglary], we must conclude that the jury exceeded the bounds of legitimate inference, and engaged in speculation in finding Ward guilty on that count.”)
Appellant’s App. at 741.
No evidence, direct or circumstantial, establishes or shows that Sera engaged in sexual intercourse with Deal as alleged in Count 5. Conviction of the serious crime of rape requires proof that is lacking here. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).