![]() During the course of that day and the next, he contacted various individuals who testified that he sought to borrow a gun and money. On January 23, 1985, the defendant had notified his landlady that he intended to move. He had been shot four times in the head and neck, at close range, with a. Late in the morning of January 25, 1985, Carl Valiton was found dead in the bedroom of his home in Buckland. We summarize the evidence, viewed in this light, as follows. Nor may a conviction rest upon the piling of inference upon inference or conjecture and speculation. "t is not enough for the appellate court to find that there was some record evidence, however slight, to support each essential element of the offense." Commonwealth v. On review, "we determine whether the evidence offered by the Commonwealth, together with reasonable inferences therefrom, when viewed in its light most favorable to the Commonwealth, was sufficient to persuade a rational jury beyond a reasonable doubt of the existence of every element of the crime charged." Commonwealth v. Because we conclude that the judgments of conviction must be reversed for lack of sufficient evidence, we address only the first of these issues.Īt the close of the Commonwealth's case, the defendant moved for a required finding of not guilty on all indictments. Other contentions relate to duplicative sentencing and principles of double jeopardy relevant only in the event of retrial. Of the evidence, (2) prosecutorial misconduct, (3) deficiencies in the jury instructions, and (4) judicial abuse of discretion relating to dismissal of the jury foreman. He challenges these convictions on grounds of (1) insufficiency Valiton, and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Mandile, was convicted by a jury of armed robbery and murder in the first degree of Carl A. Larkin, Assistant District Attorney, with him) for the Commonwealth. Michael Ryan, District Attorney, & William J. Stephenson, Assistant District Attorney (W. ![]() INDICTMENTS found and returned in the Superior Court Department on January 31, 1985. Murder to sustain the defendant's conviction on a theory of joint Īt the trial of a murder indictment there was insufficient evidence of anĪrmed robbery or attempted armed robbery to sustain a conviction on aĪt the trial of a murder indictment wherein the jury found that theĭefendant did not wield the murder weapon, there was insufficientĮvidence of the mental state required for the commission of premeditated Reasonable doubt that money was taken from the victim. Offer evidence sufficient for a rational jury to find beyond a Present: HENNESSEY, C.J., LIACOS, ABRAMS, & LYNCH, JJ.Īt the trial of an armed robbery indictment the Commonwealth failed to ![]()
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