Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-10689.
December 14, 2011.
Appeal from the District Court, First Judicial District, Ketchikan, Kevin G. Miller, Judge, Trial Court No. 1KE-09-952 Cr.
David Reineke, Assistant Public Defender, and Q uinlan Steiner, Public Defender, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Stephen R. West, District Attorney, Ketchikan, and John J. Burns, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
Before: Coats, Chief Judge, and Mannheimer and Bolger, Judges.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Ellen Gazzaway appeals her conviction for fourth-degree assault. Gazzaway was charged with this crime based on her act of punching Lawrence Shearer in the head and lacerating his face above his left eye. At trial, Gazzaway argued that Shearer attacked her first, and that she acted in self-defense. Gazzaway's jury was instructed on self-defense, but the jurors rejected Gazzaway's version of events and concluded that she was guilty of assault.
In this appeal, Gazzaway argues that, given the evidence at her trial, no reasonable jury could have rejected her claim of self-defense.
We acknowledge that the trial evidence was sharply conflicting as to who started the altercation between Gazzaway and Shearer. But when we assess whether the evidence presented at a criminal trial is sufficient to support the jury's verdict, we must view that evidence (and all inferences that could reasonably be drawn from the evidence) in the light most favorable to upholding the jury's verdict.
Richards v. State, 249 P.3d 303, 304-05 (Alaska App. 2011); Rantala v. State, 216 P.3d 550, 562 (Alaska App. 2009).
Viewing the evidence in this case in that light, we conclude that the jury could reasonably find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Shearer's version of events was credible and that Gazzaway's conflicting version of events was not. Accordingly, the evidence is legally sufficient to support the jury's verdict.
The judgement of the district court is AFFIRMED.