Court Opinion

ID: 9843723
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:42:32.427087+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:53.610998
License: Public Domain

MARING, Justice,
concurring in the result.
[¶ 26] I concur in the result. I agree with that part of the majority opinion which concludes Yineman presented a weight-of-the-evidence challenge to his conviction, but failed to preserve the issue for appeal by making a motion for a new trial.
[¶ 27] I do not agree with those parts of the majority opinion discussing the logic behind requiring a motion for acquittal in a jury trial, but not in a bench trial, in order to preserve the issue for appeal. Although it does appear the majority of federal circuits have interpreted Federal Rule 29(a) the same way the majority interprets our state rule, I am in agreement with Charles A. Wright in his treatise on federal procedure. 2A Charles A. Wright, Federal Practice and Procedure § 469, 322-23 (3d ed.2000). Wright points out that the theory behind not requiring a motion for acquittal in order to preserve the issue for appeal in a bench trial is that the plea of not guilty asks the court for a judgment of acquittal. Id. Wright notes:
This is a sound theory, but it is strange that it is not held equally applicable in a *656jury trial. There, too, the plea of not guilty asks for a judgment of acquittal. Further, Rule 29(a) requires the court to grant such a judgment “on its own motion” if the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction. It would seem that if the evidence is indeed insufficient, and the court has failed to order an acquittal even though there was no motion,- the court has failed to comply with the rule. This is an error of law that should be held fully reviewable.
Id. at 323 (footnote omitted). This is a more logical analysis than the majority’s, which infers a trial judge in a jury case has little or no responsibility to carefully listen to the facts and draw inferences therefrom as the trial progresses in preparation for a potential motion for a judgment of acquittal by the defendant or the granting of a judgment on the trial court’s own motion.
[¶ 28] Therefore, I respectfully concur in the result.
[¶ 29] MARY MUEHLEN MARING, and CAROL RONNING KAPSNER, JJ.