HERNANDEZ v. THE STATE.
S18A1307
Supreme Court of Georgia
January 22, 2019.
304 Ga. 895
WARREN, Justice.
FINAL COPY. Decided January 22, 2019. Murder. DeKalb Superior Court. Before Judge Boulee.
WARREN, Justice.
Christian de la Hernandez was convicted of malice murder, kidnapрing, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury, and rape in connection with the shooting death of Jacqueline Ramon. On appeal, Hernandez contends only that venue did not properly lie in DeKalb County. Finding no error, we affirm.1
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury‘s verdict, the evidence presented at Hernandez‘s trial showed that on May 1, 2012, Hernandez introduced himself to Jacqueline Ramon and B. M. at Confetti‘s nightclub in DeKalb County. The three deсided to go to another nightclub in the area. Initially, they rode in two separate vehicles, with Ramon and B. M. following Hernandez. On the way, however, Hernandez pulled over and told the women that he was feeling dizzy. Ramon and B. M. agreed to let Hernandez ride with them, so they drove to Ramon‘s apartment complex, which was nearby and also in DeKalb County, and left Hernandez‘s vehicle there. Hernandez got into the back seat of Ramon‘s vehiсle; Ramon drove and B. M. sat in the front passenger seat. Soon thereafter, Hernandez began firing gunshots out of the sunroof, demanding to drive, and putting his gun to Ramon‘s side. Ramon pulled into the parking lot of a shopping center, also in DeKalb County, to accommodate Hernandez‘s demand.
Once parked, Ramon slipped her cell phone to B. M., who dialed 911 and kept the phone hidden. Hernandez continued threatening Ramon and B. M. with his gun and demanded that they remove their clothes. B. M. complied and moved to the back seat of the car, but Ramon refused, and moved from the driver‘s seat to the front passenger seat.
Hernandez then began driving on Buford Highway and got onto Interstate 85 (I-85) South. Hernandez threatened to kill Ramon unless B. M. climbed to the front of the car to engage in sexual acts with him as he
Although there was undisputed evidence establishing that the events leading up to Ramon‘s murder occurrеd in DeKalb County, B. M. was not certain what county she and Ramon were being driven in when Hernandez shot Ramon. After the incident, B. M. returned to the area with an investigator from the DeKalb County District Attorney‘s Office, who drove B. M. along the routе she had been driven on the night of Ramon‘s murder. At one point, B. M. pointed the investigator in the direction of Interstate 75 (I-75) South where it splits from I-85 South and said that she thought she remembered passing Exit 227 near the time of the shooting. Howevеr, Exit 227 could only be accessed by cars traveling northbound on I-75, and when B. M. and the investigator drove to it, B. M. was unable to say if the shooting occurred there. She further stated that she “remembered some numbers 226 or 228, that‘s all I remembered.” Then at trial, when asked where they were when Hernandez shot Ramon, B. M. testified that: “I only knew that we were in 85 South. I didn‘t know where we were at all.”
Although Hernandez has not challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, it is our customary practice to review the record for sufficiency of the evidence in murder cases. We have done so here and conclude that the evidence presented against Hernandez was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 318-319 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
2. Hernandez contends as his sole enumeration of error thаt the State failed to establish that venue properly lay in DeKalb County. Generally speaking, criminal cases must be tried in the county in which the crime was committed.
Venue is a jurisdictional fact that the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt and can do so by direct or circumstantial evidence. Jones v. State, 301 Ga. 1, 4 (799 SE2d 196) (2017). Determining whether venue has been established “‘is an issue soundly within the province of the jury.‘” Crawford v. State, 297 Ga. 680, 682 (777 SE2d 463) (2015) (citation omitted). When examining whether the State has carried its burden, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and must sustain the verdict if the evidence was sufficient to permit a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was committed in the county where the defendant was indicted. And where, as here, it is not readily determinable
Relying on B. M.‘s statements to investigаtors — that she remembered seeing the number 227 around the time of the fatal gunshot, that she also recalled the numbers 226 or 228, and that she pointed the investigators to the I-75/I-85 South split — Hernandez argues that Ramon‘s death could have been inflicted only while the vehicle was on I-75 south of the split in the vicinity of Exit 227, which is near the Henry County–Clayton County line. And since no part of I-75 lies in DeKalb County, Hernandez argues, venue was proper only in Henry or Clayton County and was “affirmatively established not to lie in DeKalb County.” Hernandez therefore contends that venue was improper in “the county in which the dead body was discovered” because that provision of
Hernandez‘s arguments, however, ignore that “‘the determination of whether venue has been established is an issue soundly within the province of the jury.‘” Crawford, 297 Ga. at 682 (citation omitted). At trial, the State presented evidence that the county of Ramon‘s cause of death could not be readily determined because B. M. was not sure where Hernаndez shot and killed Ramon — evidence that included B. M.‘s trial testimony that she “only knew that we were in 85 South. I didn‘t know where we were at all.” The State also introduced undisputed evidence that Ramon‘s body was discovered in DeKalb Cоunty by presenting several DeKalb County police officers and detectives as witnesses who testified specifically that Ramon‘s body was found at her apartment complex and that the entire complex was in DеKalb County. See Crawford, 297 Ga. at 682; Shelton v. State, 279 Ga. 161, 163 (611 SE2d 11) (2005).
Therefore, a rational jury — weighing the evidence and determining the credibility of witnesses — could have found, based on B. M.‘s uncertainty as to location, that the county where the shooting occurred was not readily determinable. See Cook v. State, 273 Ga. 828, 830 (546 SE2d 487) (2001) (“All issues concerning the weight and credit to be given the evidence concerning these statements were for the jury, which was authorized to reject those portions of Cook‘s statemеnts which indicated that the homicide occurred in Fulton County.“). Because it was not readily determinable where Hernandez shot and killed Ramon,
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.