Appellate panel hears sufficiency challenge to Jeffrey Wayne Dean’s burglary and firearm convictions

Summary

On appeal, defense counsel argued the trial evidence was insufficient to support convictions for aggravated burglary and felon in possession of a firearm, citing intoxication and lack of proof of requisite intent; the state countered that the record supported the jury’s verdicts. The court took the arguments and said it would issue an opinion.

Raven Pria Morris, an attorney from the Appellate Division of the Public Defender's Conference, told an appellate panel that the evidence at trial was “insufficient to sustain mister Dean's convictions for aggravated burglary and felon in possession of a firearm.” She asked the court to reduce the aggravated burglary conviction to criminal trespass of a habitation, vacate the firearm conviction, or, alternatively, remand for a new sentencing hearing.

The question before the panel, Morris said, was whether the state proved the culpable mental states required for both offenses given evidence that Mr. Jeffrey Wayne Dean was intoxicated and displayed unusual behavior when officers arrived. “As a matter of law, the proof presented at trial does not support that” he entered the residence “with the intent of committing a theft,” Morris argued, citing officers’ testimony, body-worn camera footage, and an interrogation video as the record evidence the jury heard.

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Appellate panel hears sufficiency challenge to Jeffrey Wayne Dean’s burglary and firearm convictions

Summary

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