State of Arizona v. Robert Fischer

JUSTICE BRUTINEL,

opinion of the Court:

¶ 1 A jury found Robert Fischer guilty of second degree murder. But the trial court, under Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure (“Rule”) 24.1(e)(1), determined that the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evi dence and granted a new trial. Independently reexamining the evidence, the court of appeals concluded that the trial court erred by granting a new trial. We hold that the court of appeals exceeded the proper scope of deferential appellate review by independently reweighing the evidence rather than determining if substantial evidence supported the…