The New Mexico Supreme Court affirmed on May 7 the first-degree murder conviction of Muhammad Syed for the 2022 shooting death of Aftab Hussein in Albuquerque.
The ruling is significant because it addresses questions about the sufficiency of evidence required to support a first-degree murder conviction. The decision clarifies how circumstantial and direct evidence can be used by juries to reach verdicts in serious criminal cases.
The Court unanimously rejected Syed’s arguments that there was not enough evidence to prove he was the shooter or that he acted with deliberate intent. Syed had argued that the trial court should have granted a directed verdict in his favor after prosecutors presented their case to the jury. In its written decision, Justice Michael E. Vigil said, “Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the guilty verdict, there was substantial evidence from which a reasonable jury could find Defendant guilty of first-degree willful and deliberate murder.”
Evidence at trial showed Hussein was found next to his car outside his home and had been shot immediately after arriving home. Police discovered an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle under Syed’s bed, which forensic experts linked to bullets found at the scene. A gun store clerk testified that Syed purchased and picked up this rifle shortly before the shooting, and shell casings matching those from crime scene were also found in his car. Data from Syed’s cell phone indicated it was present near both Hussein’s neighborhood at time of death and then traveled back toward Syed’s residence.
Addressing whether intent had been proven, justices wrote: “Based on the short distance from which Defendant shot Victim, the weapon Defendant used, the large number of shots fired, and the shooting of Victim even after he had fallen down, the jury could reasonably infer Defendant deliberately killed Victim.”
The full text of State v. Syed (No. S-1-SC-40732) is available through the New Mexico Compilation Commission.
