This opinion will be unpublished and

may not be cited except as provided by

Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (1996).

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

C1-97-1036

State of Minnesota,

Respondent,

vs.

Bradley Allen Wendt,

Appellant.

Filed February 10, 1998

Affirmed

Klaphake, Judge

Washington County District Court

File No. K4-96-5129

Hubert H. Humphrey III, Attorney General, 1400 NCL Tower, 445 Minnesota Street, St. Paul, MN 55101; and

Eric C. Thole, Assistant County Attorney, Washington County Government Center, 14900 61st Street North, Stillwater, MN 55082 (for respondent)

Lawrence W. Pry, Assistant State Public Defender, 875 Summit Avenue, Room 371, St. Paul, MN 55105 (for appellant)

Considered and decided by Harten, Presiding Judge, Huspeni, Judge, and Klaphake, Judge.

U N P U B L I S H E D O P I N I O N

KLAPHAKE, Judge

Appellant Bradley Allen Wendt was convicted of third-degree assault in violation of Minn. Stat. § 609.223, subd. 1 (1996). The district court imposed a 15-month prison sentence to run consecutive to the sentence appellant was then serving for a separate offense. Because the evidence at trial was sufficient to sustain appellant's conviction, we affirm.

D E C I S I O N

Appellant's third-degree assault conviction stems from an altercation he had with a prison guard that resulted in the guard sustaining a broken nose. Appellant contends the evidence was insufficient to sustain the conviction because the state failed to prove he intentionally struck the victim, or, if he did, that he intended the injury. See Minn. Stat. § 609.02, subd. 10(2) (1996) (defining intent element of assault as "[t]he intentional infliction of or attempt to inflict bodily harm upon another").

"Intent * * * is usually established by reasonable inferences drawn from the surrounding circumstances." State v. Witucki, 420 N.W.2d 217, 221 (Minn. App. 1988), review denied (Minn. Apr. 15, 1988). In this case, two of the state's witnesses testified that they saw appellant hit the victim with his fists. The victim also testified that he saw appellant's clenched fist hit him in the nose on the right side of his face. See State v. King, 414 N.W.2d 214, 221 (Minn. App. 1987) (victim's testimony sufficient to sustain assault conviction), review denied (Minn. Jan. 15, 1998). While appellant insists that he did not strike the victim, in light of the verdict, the jury must have been persuaded by the testimony of the state's witnesses and not by appellant's testimony. See State v. Moore, 438 N.W.2d 101, 108 (Minn. 1989) (reviewing court assumes "the jury believed the state's witnesses and disbelieved any evidence to the contrary"). Thus, when viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence was sufficient to prove that appellant intended to strike and injure the victim. See State v. Webb, 440 N.W.2d 426, 430 (Minn. 1989) (appellate review of sufficiency of evidence cases "limited to a painstaking analysis of the record to determine whether the evidence, when viewed in a light most favorable to the conviction, was sufficient to permit the jurors to reach the verdict which they did").

Affirmed.