Which claim is supported by evidence in the passage below?* The Tokugawa shogunate realized the importance of maintaining contact with distant provinces
within Japan. The Tokaido was its most important highway.
... Perhaps the most crucial use of the road was forogovernmental communication with the
provinces. Official messengers traveled by foot, horseback (in wartime), and palanquin (a seat,
usually for the wealthy, carried by other people). The government used a system of relays for
messengers, with reliefs at every seven li (3.9 km). Government messengers had priority over
any other type of traveler. They had first access to ferries at river crossings along the way, and
could freely pass government road barriers at all times of the day or night. Private citizens
were not allowed to travel at night; a series of barriers and checkpoints along the road kept
them from doing so
Source: Patricia J. Graham, "The Political and Economic Importance of the Tokaido," Tokaido:
Adventures on the Road in Old Japan, University of Kansas Spencer Museum of Art (adapted)
from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, January 2012

Athief was passing by a house under construction when he noticed that the ladder being used by workers on the roof had copper braces supporting the rungs. after making sure that the workers on the roof could not see him, the thief used pliers that he had in his pocket to remove all of the copper braces that he could reach from the ground. a short time later, a worker climbed down the ladder and it collapsed. he fell to the ground and severely injured his back. the thief was apprehended a few hours later trying to sell the copper for scrap. a statute in the jurisdiction makes it a felony for "maliciously causing serious physical injury to another." the thief was charged with malicious injury under the statute and was also charged with larceny. after a jury trial in which the above facts were presented, he was convicted of both charges. if he appeals the conviction for the malicious injury charge on grounds of insufficient evidence, how should the court rule? a affirm the conviction, because the thief was engaged in criminal conduct at the time of the act that resulted in the injury. b affirm the conviction, because the jury could have found that the thief acted with malice. c reverse the conviction, because there was no evidence that the thief intended to injure anyone. d reverse the conviction, because there was no evidence that the thief bore any malice towards the workers on the roof.