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Williams v. State

Defense counsel was deficient in failing to object to the trial court's questioning of the defendant's alleged accomplice about his truthfulness, since the trial court's questions clearly intimated its opinion regarding the credibility of his testimony and were therefore patently improper.

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Anthony Joe Williams was convicted of first degree arson,1 first degree burglary,2 and first degree criminal damage to property.3 Following the trial court’s denial of his amended motion for new trial, Williams filed this appeal, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and alleging various instances of ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict. We do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility but only determine whether the evidence is sufficient under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia.4 This same standard applies to our review of the trial court’s denial of Willams’s motion for new trial. The verdict must be upheld if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.5

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