State v. Jones, 296 Neb. 494

On March 11, 2009, Gary Holmes was shot and killed at BJ’s convenience store; the shooter wore a black hoodie and a ski mask and fired into the store from the front door.
Surveillance and multiple witnesses observed the shooting; 15 shots were fired and other patrons were injured.
Dontia Bullard saw a red car near an alley, observed a man he knew as “Grimey” (identified at trial as Jones) walk toward BJ’s, and after gunfire saw that man return to the red car carrying a gun and a ski mask.
Tysheonna Anthony and other passengers testified Jones was upset after an earlier encounter at BJ’s, possessed a gun and ski mask, switched into a red car with Maxwell Griffey, later confessed to Anthony that he returned to BJ’s and shot two men, and burned his clothes afterward.
The defense presented one witness who briefly pursued the shooter and saw the shooter run away in a different direction; Jones did not testify.
Jones was convicted of first degree murder by a jury and sentenced to life imprisonment; he appealed solely on sufficiency-of-the-evidence grounds as to identity of the shooter.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to identify Jones as the shooter	State: Bullard's and Anthony's testimony, plus corroborating post-shooting conduct (burned clothes, gun, mask) sufficed to prove identity beyond a reasonable doubt	Jones: witness testimony was uncorroborated or contradicted; evidence insufficient to establish identity beyond a reasonable doubt	Affirmed: viewed in light most favorable to prosecution, a rational juror could find Jones was the shooter beyond a reasonable doubt

State v. Olbricht, 294 Neb. 974 (Neb. 2016) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence in criminal convictions)
State v. Rocha, 295 Neb. 716 (Neb. 2017) (appellate courts do not reweigh evidence or resolve witness credibility)