19 results for 'cat:"Evidence" AND cat:"Firearms" AND cat:"Murder"'.
J. Riedmann finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by plea agreement for second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person based on sufficient evidence. Defendant called 911, saying he was using CPR on a person with a gunshot wound. Defendant then reported the victim was dead, admitting he had shot her because she would not stop yelling. Officers discovered the victim with multiple gunshot wounds, later finding defendant at his brother-in-law's house pursuant to another 911 call. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Riedmann , Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: A-23-942, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. O'Neil finds a lower court improperly sentenced a defendant to second degree murder after he shot and killed a coworker inside of a vehicle. The State argued that it properly presented evidence in court concerning items located in the defendant's residence, which included firearms and ammunition, and that he is an unreasonable person. However, the defendant sufficiently showed in court that the government improperly submitted evidence that was harmless and prejudicial. Reversed.
Court: Arizona Court Of Appeals Division Two, Judge: O'Neil, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 2 CA-CR 2023-64, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Hoyle finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. Testimony from neighbors shows defendant and his girlfriend were experiencing tension in the relationship after their daughter was born, and that this was exacerbated by defendant's recent wreck in his truck and a winter storm. A female witness with whom defendant had flirted in the past testified the girlfriend retrieved a gun when defendant taunted her with the flirtation. Defendant shot and killed the girlfriend when attempting to take the gun from her. His version of how the shooting occurred was inconsistent with the blood spatter evidence and other forensic evidence, such as the fact that the bullet did not exit the girlfriend's skull. A rational factfinder reasonably could infer that defendant intentionally or knowingly shot the victim. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hoyle , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 12-23-00208-CR, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Wall finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to life imprisonment without possibility of parole for 25 years following the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy who sold him a BB gun and not Glock pistol. The defendant argued that he was denied a fair trial when the State interviewed prospective jurors and asked them if they would do their "job" in court, unfairly suggested that he was not thinking about his daughter while committing a violent crime, and then erred in certifying him as an adult. However, the State presented sufficient evidence in court that the defendant submitted three versions of the incident, falsely claiming that he took the rap for the actual killer because he was "freaked out," and then attempted to reframe an evidentiary challenge as a prosecutorial error. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wall, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 125430, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. King finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's suppression motion. Police tracked a pair of men that vaguely matched the description witnesses of a murder gave. The two men carried small black bags. An officer approached the pair at an apartment complex, and they immediately tried to escape, but the defendant was unsuccessful. Before the officer could cuff the defendant, he flung his bag into the courtyard below. Inside the bag was a pistol matching the description of the murder weapon, along with cannabis. The defendant argued the officer had no right to search through his bag, but the defendant relinquished ownership of the bag when he threw it away. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 23-4179, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
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J. Jackson finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of 13 crimes including the premeditated attempted murder of law enforcement when he went on a three-day crime spree that ended in him crashing a stolen vehicle into a busy intersection during rush hour and engaging in a shootout with law enforcement, injuring two police officers. Evidence is sufficient to support his convictions and sentence to a determinate term of 35 years 8 months and a total indeterminate term of 30 years to life. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: A166011, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Wall finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for unlawful possession of a weapon and attempted first-degree murder. The defendant argued that his 586 month prison sentence is unreasonable and that he was entitled to a new trial after discovering that the lead detective in his case launched a sexual relationship with his daughter, who served as a confidential informant. However, the defendant failed to present sufficient evidence in court that the relationship started before of during his criminal proceedings. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wall, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 120994, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Murphy finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder. The victim's stepson testified that defendant had confronted them outside their apartment, firing shots into the air. The stepson left to call 911, hearing more shots as he ran, then returned to find the victim on the ground and defendant gone. Security video showed defendant fleeing in a vehicle associated with him, while other eyewitnesses also identified defendant as the shooter. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Murphy , Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: CR-23-322, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Kyzar finds that defendant was properly convicted of second degree murder for the shooting of a victim found in a motel parking lot. The motel surveillance footage and other evidence was sufficient to show "beyond a reasonable doubt" that defendant committed the offense and had not acted in self-defense. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Kyzar, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: KA-23-313, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. McCarty finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. Defendant shot into an apartment window after having a physical altercation with the occupant. One of the shots hit the occupant, puncturing his heart and lung, killing him. Evidence is sufficient to support defendant’s convictions and sentence of life plus 10 years. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: McCarty, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-00815-COA, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Funke finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. The evidence supports conviction, including surveillance video and a photograph of a receipt for an extended magazine found during the search of a vehicle also containing defendant's ID cards. Furthermore, the record is insufficient to address claims of ineffective assistance, and there is no merit to the arguments made on direct appeal. However, the state concedes the court erroneously sentenced defendant to life without the possibility of parole on the murder convictions and amends those to life imprisonment. Affirmed in part.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Funke , Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: S-22-574, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Freudenberg finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. After a disagreement over items the victim purchased for defendant’s “on-again, off-again” girlfriend, defendant shot the victim nine times from the passenger seat of the girlfriend’s car as soon as the victim opened the door to exit his adjacent SUV. The girlfriend testified that defendant talked about killing the victim prior to the shooting, saying “all I need is a clear shot.” She and a passenger in the victim’s SUV also testified that defendant provoked the victim by saying “fight me like a man” in order to get him to exit his SUV. Testimony by a forensic expert who did not perform the autopsy, but interpreted crime scene and examiner photos was not prejudicial. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Freudenberg, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: S-22-169, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Keough finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder. An eyewitness testified that defendant was the responsible party, and the autopsy revealed that the bullet that killed the victim came from defendant's gun. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Keough, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 112129, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Gaziano finds that no errors were made in convicting defendant of premeditated murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. The victim’s drug possession and dealing was properly excluded from the defendant’s prior trial because being a drug dealer on its own doesn’t provide a third-party culprit defense, and it was also not an error to include that the defendant’s codefendant was in possession of a firearm eight months before he and defendant participated in the murder because the specific firearm hadn’t been ruled out as the murder weapon.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: SJC-13131, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Gaziano finds that no errors were made in convicting the defendant of premeditated murder and unlawful possession of a firearm. It was correct for the victim’s drug possession and dealing to be excluded from the defendant’s prior trial because being a drug dealer on its own doesn’t provide a third-party culprit defense, and it was also correct to include that the defendant was in possession of a firearm eight months before he and his codefendant participated in the murder because the specific firearm he was in possession of hadn't been ruled out as the murder weapon. Also, while the jury had not been informed that prosecutors were required to prove an absence of a firearm license, but the weight of the evidence against the defendant far outweighs this single omission.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Gaziano, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: SJC-13132, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Gwin finds conflicting witness testimony is not enough to render defendant's murder and firearm convictions against the weight of the evidence. The jury was in the best position to determine witness credibility and the prosecution's witnesses presented evidence sufficient to return a guilty verdict. Meanwhile, defendant was not prejudiced by the admission of violent lyrics of a rap song he tweeted the day before the murder because his state of mind was not at issue and he was not charged with premeditated murder; therefore, the evidence may not have been relevant, but it was clearly not used by the jury as a means to convict defendant. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gwin, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2361, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Jay finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress statements he made to detectives after he was arrested a day after he fired multiple shots at an occupied car. In part because the detectives told defendant during his interview that he was not yet under arrest and the interview could end if he wanted to wait until a lawyer was present, then twice confirmed with him that he wanted to continue the interview despite not having a lawyer, his argument to suppress based on a violation of his right to counsel fails. Defendant's other argument that the SWAT officer who arrested him under a warrant violated Florida law by not telling him specifically why he was under arrest also fails, as the officer substantially complied with the law despite not informing defendant right away of the cause of his arrest. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Jay, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 23-0011, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder
J. Lambert finds the trial court for the most part properly convicted defendant of second-degree attempted murder with a firearm and discharging a firearm from a vehicle in connection with an incident in which he shot his estranged wife's boyfriend in the jaw, drove away and disposed of the gun in a river, after which it was never found. However, defendant's tampering with evidence conviction and sentence must be overturned because the trial court erred in denying his motion to block his confession from being used to prove he took the gun from the scene and disposed of it, as there is a lack of substantial evidence independent of his confession to prove the tampering crime was committed with intent. The case is remanded so defendant can be acquitted of that charge, but the remainder of defendant's convictions and sentences are upheld without discussion. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lambert, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 23-0053, Categories: evidence, firearms, murder