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Crawford v. State

Evidence that the defendant forced the victim around the restaurant he was robbing did not support the required asportation element to sustain a conviction for kidnapping.

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A jury found Thomas Crawford guilty of kidnapping and two counts of armed robbery. Crawford appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. He also argues that the trial court erred in admitting identification testimony and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. For reasons that follow, we affirm Crawford’s convictions for armed robbery, but reverse his kidnapping conviction. 1. In reviewing Crawford’s sufficiency challenge, we construe the evidence favorably to support the jury’s verdict, and Crawford no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence.1 We do not weigh the evidence or resolve issues of witness credibility, but merely determine whether the jury was authorized to find Crawford guilty of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt.2

So viewed, the evidence shows that the victim was employed as a cook at a restaurant, and she typically worked alone in the restaurant in the morning, preparing for the day. At approximately 9:00 a.m. on January 7, 2005, the victim walked into the restaurant’s oven room and was grabbed from behind by a man who demanded money. The man threatened her with a knife and patted the side of his pants, stating that he also had a gun.

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