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State v. Jahner3/5/2003
he death of one passenger different from the culpability level determined for the period prior to the death when the passengers asked Jahner to slow down. One of the passengers in the car testified that prior to the accident the passengers were hollering at Jahner, who was driving the vehicle, to slow down but he would not listen.
[ ] "The tasks of weighing the evidence and judging the credibility of witnesses belong to the jury." State v. Purdy, 491 N.W.2d 402, 410 (N.D. 1992). We will not second-guess why the jury acquitted Jahner of manslaughter. See Purdy, at 410 (stating "this court must assume that the jury believed the evidence which supports the verdict and disbelieved any contrary evidence."); see also Dunn v. United States, 284 U.S. 390, 393-94 (1932) (concluding jury verdicts will not be upset by speculation). Even if a jury fails to convict a defendant on a charge having a similar element to a charge on which the defendant is convicted, there is no legal inconsistency if there is substantial evidence to support the charge on which he is convicted. Thus, we conclude, as we did in Moran, there is no inconsistency in a verdict in which there is substantial evidence establishing the defendant committed reckless endangerment, even though the jury found the defendant not guilty of manslaughter which also has the element of recklessness. Because the evidence supports the jury's finding that Jahner recklessly endangered the lives of the passengers prior to the death of Smith, we conclude the verdict is supported by the evidence and it is not legally inconsistent.
V.
[ ] We conclude Jahner waived his right to object to the trial court's procedure in responding to the jury's request for testimony; the trial court did not err when it refused to instruct the jury on the definition of proof beyond a reasonable doubt; and the jury verdict is not legally inconsistent. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
[ ]Carol Ronning Kapsner
Mary Muehlen Maring
William A. Neumann
Dale V. Sandstrom
Gerald W. VandeWalle, C.J.
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