Court Opinion

ID: 9732448
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:21:14.096474+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:22:24.894325
License: Public Domain

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur with my colleagues with respect to the issues considered. However, I am of the opinion that the trial justice erred in not granting defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal on the first count of the indictment.
In considering a motion for a judgment of acquittal,16 the trial justice must review the evidence in a light most favorable to the state, drawing all reasonable inferences therefrom consistent with the defendant’s guilt. The trial justice may consider neither the weight of the evidence nor the credibility of the witnesses. E.g., State v. Austin, R.I., 462 A.2d 359, 364 (1983); *1022State v. Armstrong, R.I., 446 A.2d 1043, 1044 (1982). If the evidence fails to establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the trial justice must grant the motion. State v. Gazerro, R.I., 420 A.2d 816, 827 (1980). On appellate review, this court is bound by the same standards as the trial justice. State v. Collazzo, R.I., 446 A.2d 1006, 1011 (1982).
An assault is an “unlawful attempt or offer, with force or violence, to do a corporal hurt to another, whether from malice or wantonness.” State v. Baker, 20 R.I. 275, 277, 38 A. 653, 654 (1897); see also State v. Pope, R.I., 414 A.2d 781, 788 (1980). In order to establish the offense of assault with intent to murder, the state also had to prove that defendant had the specific intent to kill his wife. State v. Fournier, R.I., 448 A.2d 1230, 1233 (1982). The state need not prove an express intent to kill; a defendant’s conduct may establish the requisite legal malice for a jury to infer an intent to kill. State v. Charette, R.I., 434 A.2d 280, 283 (1981); see State v. McGranahan, R.I., 415 A.2d 1298, 1302 (1980).17 However, in order to meet its burden, the state had to prove every element of the offense of assault with intent to murder beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Roddy, R.I., 401 A.2d 23, 35 (1979).
Moreover, we have said that no valid distinction exists between the probative force of direct and of circumstantial evidence. Any fact established by circumstantial evidence must be established as sufficiently and as completely as by positive, direct evidence. State v. Roddy, R.I., 401 A.2d at 35; State v. Rose, 112 R.I. 402, 407, 311 A.2d 281, 284 (1973). In any case, the state meets its burden when all evidence, direct or circumstantial, and all legitimate and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, establish a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Gazerro, R.I., 420 A.2d at 828.
In addressing this issue, there is no need to repeat all the evidence' recited in the majority opinion.
Reviewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the state, I believe that the state failed to sustain its burden of proof in regard to count 1. An examination of the record reveals that the state relied upon two basic inferences to establish defendant’s guilt: the two comas suffered by Martha von Bulow and the existence of a black bag that at various times was found to contain insulin and syringes.18 The evidence revealed that on the evening of December 26, 1979, Martha von Bulow became weak and uncoordinated and had to be escorted to her bedroom, where she remained alone with defendant. The next morning, after noticing that Mrs. von Bu-low had not awakened at her usual hour, Miss Schrallhammer attempted to check on her but was advised by defendant that Mrs. von Bulow had a sore throat and should not be disturbed. Nonetheless, Miss Schrall-hammer checked on Mrs. von Bulow and was unable to arouse her. The defendant, nevertheless, failed to call a doctor until several hours later, at which time he failed to describe her condition adequately. Miss Schrallhammer felt that the statements made by defendant to the doctor that his wife was an alcoholic, had been drinking the night before, and had been out of bed earlier that day were “not true.” Four hours subsequent to the first call, defendant again telephoned the doctor and requested that he come to the house. Doctor Gailitis found Mrs. von Bulow in a comatose state. Shortly after his arrival, Mrs. von Bulow experienced cardiac arrest and *1023had to be resuscitated by the doctor. Some medical testimony revealed that the cause of the coma was exogenous insulin.19
Because there is no direct evidence of defendant’s guilt, the state had to prove its case by the use of circumstantial evidence. The state also had to rely upon a pyramiding of inferences to establish defendant’s guilt. From the facts presented, the prosecution asked the jury to draw two primary inferences: that both comas were caused by exogenous insulin and that the black bag and its contents belonged to defendant. From these primary inferences, the jury was asked to draw the secondary inference that defendant was guilty of assault with intent to murder.
It is well settled that if an inference is the only reasonable one to be drawn from the established facts, then a secondary inference may be drawn from the primary inference. However, when the facts from which it is drawn are susceptible of another reasonable inference, it must be rejected as lacking probative force. In re Derek, R.I., 448 A.2d 765, 768 (1982); Waldman v. Shipyard Marina, Inc., 102 R.I. 366, 373-74, 230 A.2d 841, 845 (1967). “In this way the ultimate inference rests upon a foundation that logically has the probative force of established fact; were it otherwise, the ultimate conclusion * * * would rest on no more than conjecture and surmise.” Carnevale v. Smith, R.I., 404 A.2d 836, 841 (1979). To simplify this principle, the underlying, proven facts exclusively support the primary inferences, which support the secondary inferences in the same manner that each level of a pryamid supports the level immediately above it.
In regard to the second coma, the facts viewed in a light most favorable to the state support the primary inferences that the coma was caused by exogenous insulin and that the black bag and its contents belonged to defendant. From these inferences, the secondary inference that defendant injected his wife with insulin may be drawn.
It is my opinion that the state failed to sustain its burden of proof on count 1. Unlike the facts surrounding the second coma, no “black bag” was involved in the first coma. Maria Sehrallhammer testified that she first discovered the bag in February 1980. Indeed, insulin and needles were not seen until November 1980 — almost eleven months after the first coma. The state cannot use facts supporting count 2 to establish the element of assault in count 1.
The state itself referred to the bag and its- contents as the “key” to this case. Nevertheless, because the existence of the black bag and its contents cannot be established until November of 1980, this fact cannot serve to establish the inference that the defendant owned these items at the time of the first coma. Without this inference as its foundation, the secondary inference of guilt must fall. Accordingly, the defendant’s guilt is not an exclusive inference to be drawn from the facts. The facts surrounding count 1 at most support a conclusion that the defendant acted in an unhusbandlike, rather than in a criminal, manner. I can only conclude that his conviction rests, not upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but upon speculation and conjecture. See State v. Alexander, R.I., 471 A.2d 216, 219 (1984).
I would therefore sustain the defendant’s appeal in regard to count 1 of the indictment, vacate the judgment of conviction, and remand to the Superior Court with direction to enter a judgment of acquittal on count 1.
ORDER
After our opinion in the above case was published, the state filed a petition to rear-*1024gue. We have carefully considered the reasons upon which the petition is based, and we are of the opinion that only one reason deserves any comment, and none of the reasons warrant a reargument.
The court in its opinion faulted the State Police for their failure to obtain a search warrant before the police forwarded a collection of “tranquilizing and anesthetic drugs” found in the defendant’s black bag to the state toxicologist for examination and analysis. Through inadvertence, the court included within its description of the collection the following: “10. One blue pill marked Valium Roche-10 found to contain diazepam (Valium).” Concededly, this particular pill was obtained by the State Police on April 21, 1981, while searching, with the defendant’s consent, the family’s Newport home. However, this oversight in no way justifies the failure to obtain a warrant before the other nine items were sent to the toxicologist.
For purposes of achieving clarity, the opinion which precedes this order has been revised in conformity with this response before the print goes to press.
The petition for reargument is denied.

. The state argues that because defendant did not object to the omission of an instruction on inference stacking, the rule of the law of the case bars our review of this issue. This argument is without foundation. When a court properly instructs a jury on the standards of reasonable doubt, no further instruction on inference stacking is necessary. See State v. Roddy, R.I., 401 A.2d 23, 35 (1979). A challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence is properly made by a motion for a judgment of acquittal. On appeal we are bound by the same standards as the trial justice. State v. Collazo, R.I., 446 A.2d 1006, 1011 (1982).

. Malice is "an unjustified disregard for the possibility of death or great bodily harm and an extreme indifference to the sanctity of human life.” State v. McGranahan, R.I., 415 A.2d 1298, 1302 (1980).

. On appeal, defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence by asking us to review all of the evidence presented at trial. The defendant, however, misconceives the nature of a motion for a judgment of acquittal. The "sole target” of review is the sufficiency of the evidence upon which the state relies to establish a defendant’s guilt. State v. Crescenzo, 114 R.I. 242, 257, 332 A.2d 421, 430 (1975).

. Medical opinions concerning the cause of Martha von Bulow’s comas were elicited through the use of hypothetical questions posed to medical expert witnesses. The state concedes that the hypothetical question posed to its primary expert, Dr. Cahill, was factually erroneous regarding the time of one of the glucose pushes. In the context of my analysis of this issue, however, I shall assume that this erroneous information did not influence Dr. Cahill’s conclusion.