Court Opinion

ID: 9576915
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:29:59.265108+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:19:43.433711
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice,
specially concurring.
I concur with the result reached by the court in this case. I can agree with the determination that there was insufficient evidence to support an entry with intent to commit an assault and battery with a dangerous weapon only on the ground that it has become the law of this case by virtue of the ruling of the district court. Were I free to consider the sufficiency of the evidence of intent to commit assault and battery with a dangerous weapon vel non I would agree with Chief Justice Rooney that there is sufficient evidence present to permit the jury to draw that inference under the circumstances of this case.
It seems to me that it is a careless practice to fail to dispose of a criminal conviction, such as Count 2 of this case, after a jury verdict has been entered. When a conviction has been reached in a criminal case the matter should be terminated by the entry of a Judgment and Sentence by the court in the interests of efficient jurisprudence.
I would point out that if he wished to appeal from that conviction the defendant in this case could not do so. No final order has been entered. Conversely, should the State or any other jurisdiction have occasion to want to rely upon that conviction for any purpose, I suspect that it would be difficult to demonstrate. It has been left in limbo. In my view it is the responsibility of the trial court to attend to the resolution of loose ends such as this even though it well may rely upon the prosecutor’s office for the documentation.