Raines v. State, 304 Ga. 582

Background

In December 2011 Brandy Guined was shot in Thomaston; she later died at a hospital. A purse with cash was found on her.
Dantazias Raines was indicted in Upson County for malice murder, related felonies, and three misdemeanor obstruction counts; tried March 2013 and convicted on all counts; sentenced to life without parole plus additional years.
Key eyewitness: Marquerious Traylor (accompanied Raines, admitted they planned a robbery, recorded a conversation in which Raines allegedly confessed); other witnesses (Dawson, Searcy) recounted Raines’ statements placing him at/near the scene.
Some physical evidence (projectile and a recovered .380 pistol) was labeled with “Upson County” on evidence bags; a notebook from the cab referenced Avenue N but its contents were excluded for lack of foundation.
Trial rulings: certain evidence excluded (victim’s notebook contents, parts of Raines’ custodial statement suppressed for Miranda violations); recordings were played for the jury though not formally admitted as exhibits in the jury room.
On appeal Raines challenged venue (overall and for obstruction counts), sufficiency/corroboration of accomplice testimony, omission of an accomplice-corroboration jury charge, admission/presentation of recordings, and his sentence; the Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for resentencing under Veal.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Raines)	Held
Venue for homicide counts	Venue established by testimony placing shooting on Avenue N in Thomaston and by investigative steps to Avenue N; labels on evidence bags and GBI testimony tied evidence to Upson County	Venue not proved—no witness directly identified county of occurrence; notebook contents excluded; evidence labels insufficient	Affirmed: viewing evidence in light most favorable to verdict, venue for murder counts was proved in Upson County
Venue for misdemeanor obstruction counts	Venue can be inferred from involvement of Upson County task force and transport to Upson jail	Obstruction testimony lacked any specific location tying acts to Upson County	Reversed as to obstruction counts: State failed to prove venue for those misdemeanors
Corroboration of accomplice (Traylor) testimony	Multiple independent facts corroborate: Raines’ own statements to Dawson/Searcy, cash found on victim, Raines’ flight/resistance at arrest, and demeanor—sufficient “slight” corroboration	Traylor was an accomplice; his testimony required independent corroboration and some inculpatory evidence played derived from Traylor	Affirmed: slight independent corroboration existed; jury could find guilt beyond reasonable doubt
Failure to charge on accomplice corroboration	Jury instructed on venue, reasonable doubt, credibility; State argues instruction on corroboration not required when defense theory and overall charge fairly present issues	Raines contends omission was reversible error because his defense relied on lack of corroboration	No plain error: omission did not likely affect outcome given overall instructions and quantum of evidence
Recordings played but not formally admitted	Recordings were played (some redacted) with court oversight; State says no harm because recordings were handled and not sent to jury room	Raines argues publishing recordings without tender/admission was error	No plain error: Raines failed to show prejudice from recordings being played but not formally admitted

Key Cases Cited

Jones v. State, 272 Ga. 900 (addresses standard for proving venue after plea of not guilty)
Pike v. State, 302 Ga. 795 (frame for viewing venue evidence like sufficiency review)
Twitty v. State, 298 Ga. 204 (discusses need for an appropriate venue instruction tailored to facts)
Veal v. State, 298 Ga. 691 (sentence-remand principles relied on for resentencing)
Huff v. State, 300 Ga. 807 (explains slight corroboration standard for accomplice testimony)
Cowart v. State, 294 Ga. 333 (evidence sufficiency review includes all admitted evidence; retrial on venue failure possible)