First-Degree Murder • Post-Sentence Motion for Judgment of Acquittal • Notes from Victim as Hearsay • Sufficiency of Evidence
Commonwealth v. Fitzpatrick, PICS Case No. 17-0641 (Pa. Super. April 12, 2017) Shogan, J. (18 pages).
Evidence was sufficient to convict for first-degree murder where circumstantial evidence supported finding that appellee, who was alone with the victim, drowned her in a creek, with the motive of being able to have a relationship with another woman and to collect the victim’s life insurance proceeds. Judgment of acquittal reversed; jury conviction reinstated. Cross-appeal quashed.
