Court Opinion

ID: 9744684
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:12:31.33711+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:50.997422
License: Public Domain

CHEZEM, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. I agree with the majority that when reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we will neither reweigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses. Jones v. State (1992), Ind., 589 N.E.2d 241, 242. I further agree that we will consider the evidence which supports the verdict and the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom. Id. If there is substantial evidence of probative value to support the verdict, it will be affirmed. Id. However, in considering the evidence which supports the verdict and the reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, I cannot agree that the evidence was not sufficient to sustain McMahel's convictions for burglary and theft.
In Rains v. State (1988), Ind., 519 N.E.2d 528, 524, our supreme court held that circumstantial evidence alone is sufficient where the reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence support the verdict. The Rains court also held that the circumstantial evidence need not exclude every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. Id.
The circumstantial evidence presented by the State during McMahel's trial provided a sufficient basis from which the jury could infer that McMahel was a participant in the burglary and theft of the tavern. McMahel was seen sitting outside the tavern at 1:30 a.m. with Angle and Rickenbaugh as the bartender drove home. Approximately thirty minutes later, a deputy sheriff saw three individuals hurriedly walking across state road 37 from Hanger Equipment toward the railroad track and into McMahel's yard. Hanger Equipment is located three or four doors down from the tavern. The deputy sheriff saw one person carrying a box about the size of a case of beer, and then lost sight of the three as they went through the bushes in McMahel's yard. Hope Raines testified that she had been at McMahel's house during the night of the burglary, and at 2 a.m. she heard people running up to the house. When she went outside, she saw McMahel, Angle and Rick-enbaugh. They were laughing and drinking while Angle carried a couple bottles of whiskey and Rickenbaugh carried a case of beer. The bartender also testified that she did not sell any cases of beer or bottles of whiskey to McMahel, Angle or Ricken-baugh on the night of the burglary, and that these were items taken from the tavern. The jury could reasonably infer McMahel's participation in the burglary and theft from his companionship with Angle and Rickenbaugh immediately before and after the time of the break-in, and his drinking with them upon his arrival at the house. It is not dispositive of the case that McMahel did not have any of the stolen beer or whiskey in his possession. The evidence is sufficient to sustain the jury's verdicts.
I would affirm McMahel's convictions for burglary and theft.