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Stewart v. State

The defendant shot the victim at close range after he and his companions ambushed the victim and others in an altercation arising out of an ongoing dispute between neighbors.

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Miguel Stewart was convicted of the malice murder of Rigoberto Salas-Palatino and sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial.1 1. The evidence adduced at trial authorized the jury to find that on the evening of April 7, 2000, a group of Hispanic males, including Jose Salas, his brother Efrain Salas-Vaca and Efrain’s son, Rigoberto, were socializing outside an apartment at the Castlebrook Apartment complex. Appellant lived with his girlfriend in an apartment adjacent to Salas. A black Impala belonging to Stewart’s friend drove by the Hispanic men twice, speeding and “laying drag.” When the vehicle returned a second time, Rigoberto approached the car and conversed briefly with the driver before the car sped off. Efrain threw a bottle at the car as it departed. Early the next morning, Stewart was among a group of individuals who ambushed the Hispanic men. Salas heard a gunshot during the altercation and after he chased the attackers away he discovered that Rigoberto had been shot. Rigoberto died at the scene from a gunshot, fired at close range by appellant, that entered to the right of his nose and lodged in his brain. Several eyewitnesses recounted these events and testified that the victim did not threaten appellant before the shooting.

We find the evidence sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of malice murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.

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