Opinion
Court of Appeals No. A-11662 No. 6236
09-09-2015
LESLEY GENE JAMES, Appellant, v. STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.
Appearances: Dan S. Bair, Assistant Public Advocate, Appeals and Statewide Defense Section, and Richard Allen, Public Advocate, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Eric A. Ringsmuth, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Criminal Appeals, Anchorage, and Craig W. Richards, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
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 authority for any proposition of law. Trial Court No. 3DI-11-339 CR
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Appeal from the Superior Court, Third Judicial District, Dillingham, Fred Torrisi, Judge. Appearances: Dan S. Bair, Assistant Public Advocate, Appeals and Statewide Defense Section, and Richard Allen, Public Advocate, Anchorage, for the Appellant. Eric A. Ringsmuth, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Criminal Appeals, Anchorage, and Craig W. Richards, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee. Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, and Allard and Kossler, Judges. Judge ALLARD.
A jury convicted Lesley Gene James of second-degree assault for strangling Richard Clark. James appeals, arguing that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support this conviction. Specifically, he argues that the State failed to prove that he caused physical injury to Clark or that he used his hands as a dangerous instrument by impeding Clark's breathing or blood circulation. Under Alaska law, physical injury is defined as "a physical pain or an impairment of physical condition." In addition, a person's hands qualify as a dangerous instrument when they are used "to impede normal breathing or circulation of blood by applying pressure on the throat or neck or obstructing the nose or mouth."
AS 11.41.210(a)(1) ("A person commits the crime of assault in the second degree if ... with intent to cause physical injury to another person, that person causes physical injury to another person by means of a dangerous instrument."). We note that James was also convicted of other charges in this case but these convictions are not challenged on appeal.
AS 11.81.900(b)(47).
AS 11.81.900(b)(15)(B).
When we review a claim that the evidence was insufficient to support a verdict, we are required to view the evidence — and all reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence — in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict. We then determine whether, viewing the evidence in this light, a fair-minded juror could reasonably conclude that the State had proven all elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
Iyapana v. State, 284 P.3d 841, 848-49 (Alaska App. 2012).
Id.
Here, witnesses to the physical altercation between Clark and James testified that James was yelling throughout the assault that he would kill Clark. Clark testified that James leaped down a flight of stairs and punched him, and that James then grabbed him by the neck and squeezed "[p]retty hard" until Clark "almost blacked out." When Alaska State Trooper Michael Henry interviewed Clark several hours after this assault took place, Clark still had a red mark on his neck. The trooper testified that the redness around the neck was evidence of strangulation.
James argues that this evidence is insufficient because, as the trooper also testified, Clark did not display many of the other traditional signs of strangulation. James also points out that Clark testified that his neck did not hurt after the assault and that, although Clark sought medical treatment for his other injuries, Clark did not seek medical treatment for his neck.
But James's arguments rely on viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to himself, rather than in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict. Viewing the evidence under the correct legal standard, we conclude that a fair-minded juror could reasonably conclude that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that James was guilty of second-degree assault.
Id. --------
The judgment of the superior court is AFFIRMED.