Court Opinion

ID: 9768310
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:55:17.351938+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:39.281948
License: Public Domain

Darrell Hickman, Justice, dissenting. The majority holds that the confession cannot be used to supply the proof that robbery was intended. It says there was no evidence of the element of theft outside the confession, and, therefore, the conviction cannot stand. The statute quoted simply means that a person cannot be convicted on a written or oral confession alone. There must be other proof of the crime. The state certainly proved a crime was committed and a jury could reasonably conclude that Trotter went in the store to rob it. I doubt whether Trotter knew exactly what he was going to do, but robbers have been known to try to hold up stores. Evidently, he was not an experienced robber. He shot the man behind the counter and then tried to shoot the victim’s brother; the gun misfired and Trotter panicked and fled. It would not be the first time an inept robber failed in his attempt and fled. A jury is not supposed to put aside its common sense and neither should we. We do not know exactly what Trotter was thinking, nor do we have to. What we do know is that he and his friend were wandering around that day. They were going to the store to get something to eat, according to his friend. According to Trotter’s confession, they were going to get some money. The majority’s reading of the statute is entirely misplaced. It does not say anything about proving beyond a reasonable doubt all the elements of the crime; just that other proof is required. In this case, considering the facts, together with all reasonable inferences permitted, the verdict is justified. The majority ignores the perfectly ordinary and reasonable conclusion one would draw: Trotter intended to rob the store. Trotter does not even argue the statute. Yet the majority uses it as a basis for reversing the case. We should not look for reasons to void the verdict, but whether the evidence supports it. I would affirm the conviction. Hays, J., joins in this dissent.