State v. Jones, 296 Neb. 494

On March 11, 2009, Gary Holmes was shot and killed outside BJ’s convenience store in Omaha; the shooter fired through the front door from outside, discharging about 15 rounds.
Witness Dontia Bullard saw a red car in an alley, watched a man (known to him as “Grimey,” later identified as Jones) walk toward BJ’s, then heard gunshots and saw that man return to the red car carrying a gun and a ski mask.
Tysheonna Anthony (a friend of Jones) testified Jones was angry after an earlier encounter at BJ’s, proposed shooting the two men, had a gun and ski mask, changed clothes in an alley with Maxwell Griffey, later confessed to Anthony that he returned to BJ’s and shot two men, showed her a 9-mm, and burned his clothes.
Additional witnesses (Pace, Chatmon) corroborated the meeting of cars, Jones’s agitation, and movements to the apartment complex; a mattress/garment fire was reported near the apartment about the time of the shooting.
Jones did not testify; his defense witness described the shooter running northwest from BJ’s. The jury convicted Jones of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence identifying Jones as the shooter	State: Witness testimony and Jones’s postshooting confession to Anthony establish identity	Jones: Witnesses’ testimony was uncorroborated and conflicted; identity not proven beyond a reasonable doubt	Affirmed: viewing evidence in prosecution’s favor, a rational trier of fact could find Jones was the shooter

State v. Olbricht, 294 Neb. 974 (discussing sufficiency review standard in criminal cases)
State v. Rocha, 295 Neb. 716 (noting appellate court must not reweigh evidence or assess witness credibility)