Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-10386.
June 16, 2010.
Appeal from the District Court, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, Stephanie Rhoades, Judge, Trial Court No. 3AN-08-10621 CR.
Doug Miller, Assistant Public Advocate, and Rachel Levitt, Public Advocate, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Jason Gist, Assistant District Attorney, Anchorage, and Daniel S. Sullivan, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
Before: Coats, Chief Judge, and Mannheimer and Bolger, Judges.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND JUDGMENT
A jury convicted Howard Hughes fourth-degree assault. Hughes appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We conclude that Hughes's conviction is supported by sufficient evidence. Factual Background
AS 11.41.230(a)(1).
At trial, the State presented evidence that in September 2008, Nicole Johnson and four friends were walking from the Woodshed Lounge to the Kodiak Bar in downtown Anchorage. Three of the friends, including Melvin Gage, were walking in front, and Johnson and another woman were walking together behind the group of three.
Howard Hughes was sitting with a woman on a bench nearby. As the first three passed Hughes, Hughes and Gage exchanged words. Hughes yelled as they continued past him, but they kept on walking. When Johnson passed Hughes, he got close and yelled, "Do you want some?" Johnson continued to walk toward the Kodiak bar; Hughes followed and continued to yell. Johnson yelled back at Hughes. She told him to leave her and her friend alone. Eventually Hughes and Johnson were close, yelling at each other. Hughes knocked Johnson's purse out of her hand, spilling its contents, and then he kicked the purse away. Johnson continued to yell at Hughes, and Hughes punched Johnson in the face, knocking her to the ground. David Tatman, a bystander who observed the incident, called 911.
The State charged Hughes with fourth-degree assault. At trial, Hughes claimed self-defense. He testified that he had been talking with the woman on the bench with him when someone approached him and told him to leave the woman alone. Soon four or five people were gathered around him, exchanging rough words. Hughes claimed that a man in the group punched him in the chin, and that one of the women in the group then slapped Hughes, so he slapped her back. The State presented sufficient evidence to allow the jury to convict Hughes of fourth-degree assault
AS 11.41.230(a)(1) ("A person commits the crime of assault in the fourth degree if . . . that person recklessly causes physical injury to another person[.]").
On appeal, Hughes argues the State did not present sufficient evidence to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt his claim of self-defense.
In reviewing a sufficiency of the evidence claim, this court views the evidence and the reasonable inferences from the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict. The court upholds the verdict if reasonable jurors could conclude the defendant's guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt. The credibility of the witnesses is an issue for the jury and should not be considered in determining the sufficiency of the evidence.
Grandstaff v. State, 171 P.3d 1176, 1210 (Alaska App. 2007).
Simpson v. State, 877 P.2d 1319, 1320 (Alaska App. 1994).
Id. at 1320-21.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, reasonable jurors could conclude the State established Hughes's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Witnesses testified that Hughes was verbally hostile with Johnson, he knocked her purse down, kicked it, and then hit her. Bystander David Tatman testified Hughes's physical assault on Johnson was unprovoked. This evidence, if believed, supports a conviction for fourth-degree assault and is sufficient to reject Hughes's claim of self-defense.
Hughes is the only one who testified to facts that would support a claim of self-defense, and the jury did not have to believe his story. Interpreting the evidence in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict, reasonable jurors could conclude the State established beyond a reasonable doubt that Hughes assaulted Johnson and was not acting in self-defense. Conclusion
See AS 11.41.230(a)(1); AS 11.81.330(a); Simpson, 877 P.2d at 1320.
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.