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Coverson v. StateCoverson v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jun 4, 1982
64066
Reporters:
, ,
Before:
Banke
Banke, Judge.

The defendant appeals his conviction for child molestation. Held:

1. The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier ‍​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​​​‌​‌​​​‍of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See generally Crawford v. State, 245 Ga. 89 (1) (263 SE2d 131) (1980).

2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing evidence of the ‍​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​​​‌​‌​​​‍defendant’s confession. The testimony presented by the state indicated that the confession had been made freely and voluntarily, after the defendant had been advised of his Miranda rights. The fact that the defendant may have ‍​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​​​‌​‌​​​‍suffered from a mental deficiency or that he was illiterate did not render him incapable of making a valid confession. See generally Blanchard v. State, 247 Ga. 415, 417 (3) (276 SE2d 593) (1981); Ivey v. State, 147 Ga. ‍​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​​​‌​‌​​​‍App. 227, 228 (2) (248 SE2d 334) (1978). Nor was the confession invalidated by the fact that the officers conducting the interrogation gave him cigarettes and soft drinks. In any event, the defendant never ‍​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​​​‌​‌​​​‍voiced an objection to the evidence concerning his statements to police.

Judgment affirmed.

McMurray, P. J., and Birdsong, J., concur.

Case Details

Case Name: Coverson v. State
Court Name: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Date Published: Jun 4, 1982
Citations: 162 Ga. App. 497; 292 S.E.2d 196; 1982 Ga. App. LEXIS 2196; 64066
Docket Number: 64066
Court Abbreviation: Ga. Ct. App.
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