Court Opinion

ID: 9551372
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:52:08.492228+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:39.392911
License: Public Domain

HOLMAN, J.,
dissenting.
The majority opinion holds, in effect, that a trial judge in a criminal case does not have the inherent power to set aside a jury verdict of guilty if he is *858convinced that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the verdict. I would hold that in such a situation a trial judge has not only the inherent authority but the duty to do so. Whether the defendant’s lawyer has the perspicacity to move for a judgment of acquittal because of the insufficiency of the evidence prior to submission to the jury or for a new trial after the return of the verdict should have no effect upon the trial judge’s ability to rectify what would appear to be a horrifying injustice. While I believe the trial judge has the inherent authority to set aside a conviction under such circumstances, I, also, do not believe that the legislature ever intended by its statutory scheme to bring about the bizarre result manifested by the majority opinion.
O’CONNELL, J., joins in this dissent.