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Jacobs v. State4/16/2003
NOTICE Memorandum decisions of this court do not create legal precedent. See Alaska Appellate Rule 214(d) and Paragraph 7 of the Guidelines for Publication of Court of Appeals Decisions (Court of Appeals Order No. 3). Accordingly, this memorandum decision may not be cited as binding precedent for any proposition of law.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
No. 4691
Leroy R. Jacobs contends that insufficient evidence supports his convictions for first-degree vehicle theft and third-degree theft. But we have examined the evidence presented at Jacobs's trials and conclude that reasonable jurors could agree that the State had proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we affirm the superior court.
On June 21, 2001, at about 1:00 a.m., Mark Ridgway parked his truck in downtown Juneau and left his keys and cell phone on the seat while he went to look for some friends. When he returned twenty minutes later, his truck was gone. Ridgway phoned the police to report that his truck was stolen. He also contacted the local cab companies and asked them to look for the truck; he offered a $200 reward.
About two hours later, Matthew Wilson, a cab driver, saw Ridgway's truck on the side of the Old Glacier Highway. Jacobs was putting gas in the tank of the truck from a gas can. Wilson radioed his dispatcher to call the police, pulled over, and offered to help Jacobs. Jacobs told Wilson that he had just gotten the truck out of the shop and that he had been having problems with it. He attempted to start the truck after he had added gasoline, but was unsuccessful. Jacobs put gas directly in the carburetor, got back in the driver's seat, and the engine started successfully. Jacobs got out, closed the hood, and got back in as Juneau Police Officer Dominic Branson pulled up. Officer Blaine Hatch arrived shortly thereafter.
Based on his contact with Jacobs, Officer Branson concluded that Jacobs was intoxicated. Officer Hatch looked in the truck and found the keys on the seat. Hatch also did a pat-down search of Jacobs and found Ridgway's cell phone. At first Jacobs told Hatch that the phone was disconnected, and then that it was not his. Jacobs also said the truck belonged to someone whom he had met that night and had agreed to give him a ride. Jacobs asserted that this person had gone to get gas. A records check showed that Jacobs's license was revoked.
Jacobs was charged with first-degree vehicle theft of the truck, third-degree theft of the cell phone, driving while intoxicated, and driving with a revoked license. In a trial before Superior Court Judge Larry R. Weeks, a jury convicted Jacobs of third-degree theft and driving while intoxicated. However, they could not reach a verdict on first-degree vehicle theft and the driving with a revoked license. Judge Weeks declared a mistrial on those counts. At a retrial, a jury found Jacobs guilty of these two charges as well.
On appeal, Jacobs claims that there was insufficient evidence presented by the State to support his convictions for vehicle theft and theft of the cell phone.
When a defendant claims that a conviction is not supported by sufficient evidence, we view the evidence presented at trial, and reasonable inferences from the evidence, in the light most favorable to upholding the jury's verdict. Viewing the evidence and reasonable inferences from the evidence in this light, we must decide whether a fair-minded juror exercising reasonable judgment could conclude that the State met its burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
To convict Jacobs for first-degree vehicle theft, the State had to prove all the essential elements
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