California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Washington, C061355 (Cal. App. 12/10/2009), C061355 (Cal. App. 2009):
Defendant's argument concerning what the jury could conclude about the chain of events is without merit. When reviewing a substantial evidence claim, we must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the judgment. (People v. Hovarter (2008) 44 Cal.4th 983, 1014-1015.) It was reasonable for the jury to conclude from the question and response that the three acts were interrelated that is, that the grabbing of the hair, pulling off the bed, and dragging across the floor were part of one action on the part of defendant. The qualifier "at this time," in the question, gave the jury reason to believe that the three actions were related temporally. Accordingly, we will analyze whether defendant's action of pulling Burgess out of bed and across the room, by the hair, was sufficient to sustain a conviction for assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.