Court Opinion

ID: 9749471
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-27 16:46:16.072342+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:25:49.508554
License: Public Domain

*446Billings, J.,
concurring in part and dissenting in part. I concur in the majority opinion as to the proper burden of proof that the State must bear in circumstantial evidence cases and agree that the measure of proof is beyond reasonable doubt in both direct and circumstantial evidence cases (Part II of the majority opinion).
I must, however, dissent from the result reached by the majority. In my opinion on the record here the State as a matter of law failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the operation of the motor vehicle by the defendant. Because this is an essential element in a charge of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, I would reverse the defendant’s conviction and enter a judgment of acquittal.