State v. Kendall Whitaker, 79 A.3d 795

December 4, 2002: birthday party in Kennedy’s Providence apartment; gunfire injures three, Joel Jackson dies.
Whitaker arrives with Robinson and Isom; attempt to steal Jackson’s chain triggers struggle and gunfire.
Robinson and Isom testify about Whitaker’s armed presence and intent to steal the chain; Richardson places Whitaker with a gun.
Robinson removes Jackson’s chain; medallion later recovered by police; Whitaker drives Robinson to hospital and is arrested.
Whitaker is charged with murder, robbery, conspiracy to rob, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a handgun without a license, and related firearm offenses; acquitted of conspiracy and Toby assault, others convicted, leading to this appeal.
Whitaker contends trial errors—new-trial denial, jury instructions, judgment of acquittal, custody instruction, leading questions, unrecorded bench conferences; appeal denied.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Weight of the evidence for a new trial	Court should defer to the thirteenth juror; credible circumstantial proof supports verdict.	Witness credibility issues undermine the verdict and justify a new trial.	Affirmed; denial upheld.
Sufficiency of evidence for aiding and abetting	Evidence supports aiding-and-abetting based on Whitaker’s presence and actions.	Insufficient evidence preserved for appeal; acquittal on conspiracy blocks aiding.	Waiver; issue not reviewable.
Jury instructions on aiding/intent and overall clarity	Instructions properly reflected law and evidence; no misdirection.	Instructions confusing; lacking explicit intent instruction.	Not reversible error; instructions upheld.
Motion for judgment of acquittal and pyramiding of inferences	Circumstantial evidence and witnesses’ testimony sufficient to support guilt.	Inferences improperly pyramided from ambiguous facts.	Denied; evidence sufficient.
Custody instruction to jury	Custody note was neutral and did not prejudice; Fenner procedure not required here.	Custody instruction improper and prejudicial; reversible error.	Not reversible error; Fenner cautions observed in practice.
Leading questions and unrecorded bench conferences	Leading questions within trial court’s discretion; not reversible.	Leading questions/coaching; unrecorded bench issues prejudicial.	Not grounds for reversal; objections and recording deficiencies waived.

State v. Cerda, 957 A.2d 382 (R.I. 2008) (weight-of-evidence review; credibility determinations by trial court respected)
State v. Rosario, 35 A.3d 938 (R.I. 2012) (thirteenth-juror standard; credibility and circumstantial support upheld)
State v. Karngar, 29 A.3d 1232 (R.I. 2011) (preservation rules for new-trial on sufficiency vs weight)
State v. Vargas, 21 A.3d 347 (R.I. 2011) (pyramiding inferences; corroborating circumstantial evidence sufficient)
State v. Caruolo, 524 A.2d 575 (R.I. 1987) (circumstantial evidence sufficiency standard)
State v. Abdullh, 967 A.2d 469 (R.I. 2009) (standard for reviewing denial of motion for new trial)
State v. Imbruglia, 913 A.2d 1022 (R.I. 2008) (standard of review for jury-instruction adequacy)
State v. Fenner, 503 A.2d 518 (R.I. 1986) (custody-injury guidance; Fenner procedure guiding custody admonitions)
State v. D’Alo, 435 A.2d 317 (R.I. 1981) (bench conferences recording necessity; preservation)
State v. Reyes, 984 A.2d 606 (R.I. 2009) (objection specificity on record to preserve appeal)