Government of the Virgin Islands v. George

47 V.I. 46, 2004 WL 3546285, 2004 V.I. LEXIS 25
CourtSupreme Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedJune 18, 2004
DocketCriminal No. F46/1997
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 47 V.I. 46 (Government of the Virgin Islands v. George) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Government of the Virgin Islands v. George, 47 V.I. 46, 2004 WL 3546285, 2004 V.I. LEXIS 25 (virginislands 2004).

Opinion

KENDALL, Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION

(June 18, 2004)

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Defendant’s “Motion for Judgment of Acquittal,” and “Conditional Motion for a New Trial” pursuant to Rules 29(c) and 29(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Defendant files these Motions after having been tried and convicted by a jury of Voluntary Manslaughter in violation of Title 14 V.I.C. § 924. Upon consideration of the Motions and the Government’s opposition thereto, Defendant’s Motions will be denied.

I. Facts

Defendant was charged with one (1) count of Murder in the First Degree, in violation of Title 14 V.I.C. §§ 921, 922(a). During the course of trial and by agreement of both parties, an Amended Information was filed which included the offense of Voluntary Manslaughter as Count II in the Information. Defendant was acquitted of Murder in the First Degree and the lesser-included offense of Murder in the Second Degree, but was convicted by jury of Voluntary Manslaughter. Defendant subsequently filed a timely Motion for Judgment of Acquittal.

[49]*49II. Motion for Judgment of Acquittal

Pursuant to Rule 29(c) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a judgment of acquittal must be granted when, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government, the Court determines as a matter of law that a reasonable jury could not find the Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Walters v. Government, 172 F.R.D. 165, 171, 36 V.I. 101 (D.V.I. 1997), aff’d 135 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 1997). In making a determination, the Court must decide whether substantial evidence existed at trial upon which a reasonable jury could have reached a verdict of “guilty.” United States v. Fredericks, 38 F. Supp. 2d 396, 398, 40 V.I. 366 (D.V.I. 1999). A conviction may be based on circumstantial evidence and it “need not be inconsistent with every conclusion save that of guilt, provided it does establish a case from which the jury can find the Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” U.S. v. Giuliano, 263 F.2d 582, 584 (3d Cir. 1959). In sum, it is not the Court’s duty to “weigh the evidence or determine the credibility of the witnesses in reviewing a guilty verdict” and the Court “must sustain the verdict if supported by substantial evidence.” Government of the Virgin Islands v. Lima, 774 F.2d 1245, 1249 (3d Cir. 1985), citing Glasser v. U.S., 315 U.S. 60, 80, 62 S. Ct. 457, 469, 86 L. Ed. 680 (1942).

A. The Jury Verdict Was Not Against the Weight of the Evidence

Defendant contends that there was insufficient evidence as a matter of law on the issue of who stabbed and killed the victim for a jury to find him “guilty” beyond a reasonable doubt. Specifically, Defendant claims that the statements of the Government’s witnesses should never have been read to the jury and that without this reading into the record, there would not have been substantial evidence to establish that it was the Defendant who stabbed the victim to convict on Voluntary Manslaughter. In order to show the Defendant’s guilt, the Government needed to prove that the Defendant unlawfully killed the victim while in a sudden quarrel or heat of passion, caused by adequate provocation and that the killing occurred in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. See, Title 14 V.I.C. § 924. The evidence presented at trial showed that: (1) the Defendant and the victim were involved in an altercation the night before the stabbing [50]*50occurred;1 (2) the victim died as the result of being stabbed;2 (3) several witnesses’ statements, taken soon after the incident, identified Defendant as the assailant; (4) Defendant was seen with blood on him and fleeing the area of the incident and (5) Defendant gave a Virgin Islands Police Detective information regarding the location of the knife he used in the stabbing.3 Also, because the jury is charged with evaluating the credibility of the witnesses, they were free to give more weight to the testimony of the Government’s witnesses than the testimony of the Defendant’s witnesses. U.S. v. Luma, 240 F. Supp. 2d 358, 366 (D.V.I. 2002). In viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the Government and given the presumption that the jurors properly weighed the evidence and assessed the credibility of the witnesses, the Court concludes that there was substantial evidence upon which a reasonable jury could have reached a verdict that Defendant was “guilty” beyond a reasonable doubt of Voluntary Manslaughter.

B. Admission of the Witnesses’ Statements

Defendant argues that the Court erred when it allowed the witnesses to read their statements to the jury. Specifically, Defendant claims that the statements were inadmissible under Rules 803(5) and 803(8) of the F.R.E. and that reading the statements to the jury deprived him of his Sixth Amendment Right to Confrontation. In sum, Defendant contends that all of the statements were read to the jury without a proper foundation and were therefore inadmissible as recorded recollections, pursuant to Rule 803(5) of the F.R.E. He further contends that the statements were taken by law enforcement officers in an adversarial investigation and were therefore precluded from use against Defendant pursuant to Rule 803(8) of the F.R.E.

1. Rule 803(5): Recorded Recollection

Defendant maintains that the witnesses’ statements were not admissible under Rule 803(5) because the requirements of the rule were not satisfied. Rule 803(5) of the F.R.E. creates an exception to the hearsay rule and is based on the belief that as an event is distanced in the [51]*51mind, accuracy of the memory may decrease or be lost entirely. The Supreme Court conveyed in Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S. Ct. 3139, 111 L. Ed. 2d 638 (1990), that to be admissible under the Confrontation Clause, hearsay evidence used to convict a Defendant must possess indicia of reliability by virtue of its inherent trustworthiness at the time the statements were made, and not by reference to other evidence at trial. Id. at 822. The guarantee of trustworthiness can be found in the reliability inherent in a record made while events were still fresh in mind and accurately reflecting them. See, Hall v. State, 223 Md. 158, 162 A.2d 751 (1960).

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People v. Toussaint
55 V.I. 419 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2011)
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54 V.I. 97 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2010)
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49 V.I. 137 (Superior Court of The Virgin Islands, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
47 V.I. 46, 2004 WL 3546285, 2004 V.I. LEXIS 25, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/government-of-the-virgin-islands-v-george-virginislands-2004.