State v. Dean

Defendant was convicted of the second degree murder of a three year old boy, Richard Schmidt. The boy was the son of a woman named Jean Schmidt with whom defendant was living at the time of the alleged crime. The state’s evidence was all circumstantial. Defendant claims it was not sufficient to support a verdict and that the trial court should have ordered a verdict of acquittal. The failure -of the trial court to direct a verdict is the basic assignment of error on this appeal.

The test to be applied in meeting the suffi ciency of circumstantial evidence has been frequently stated. A complete…