People v. Nguyen CA4/3

DISCUSSION

A. Substantial Evidence Supports Convictions for Assault By Means of Force Likely To Produce Great Bodily Injury Nguyen contends the evidence did not establish the firing of the paintball gun was done with force likely to produce great bodily injury.1 For the reasons expressed below, we disagree. The test for sufficiency of the evidence is “whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 318-319; People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 576- 578 (Johnson).) The reviewing court reviews the whole record and evidence in the light most favorable to the judgment below and determines whether the record contains substantial evidence from which a reasonable trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (Johnson, supra, at p. 562.) The evidence must be of

1 The trial court advised the jury during deliberations counts 1 and 2 occurred when Sang fired the paintball gun the first time, which resulted in Varela’s bloody nose and swollen finger. Count 3 occurred…