454 S.E.2d 500 | Ga. | 1995
This appeal is from appellant’s conviction of murder.
1. The evidence adduced at trial was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Hightower v. State, 259 Ga. 770 (1) (386 SE2d 509) (1989); Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
2. Appellant testified at trial that he did not remember the shooting. His defense was insanity, but he also asked for a charge on voluntary manslaughter. The trial court’s refusal to give the request is appellant’s sole enumeration of error.
In support of his request for a charge on voluntary manslaughter, appellant relied on the evidence of marital discord presented during trial and on the proffered testimony of a psychologist appointed by the court. That psychologist testified outside the presence of the jury that appellant was provoked by an accumulation of stress relating to his relationship with his wife which he held in until he “blew.” However, there was no evidence that appellant “blew,” that he acted “solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person. ...” OCGA § 16-5-2. Appellant’s testimony was that he did not remember the shooting and he did not remember being angry at the victim. “This is not evidence of ‘passion,’ [cit.], and voluntary manslaughter is not applicable to these facts and need not have been charged. [Cits.]” Burger v. State, 238 Ga. 171 (2) (231 SE2d 769) (1977). See also Hightower v. State, supra, Div. 5; Gooch v. State, 259 Ga. 301 (3) (379 SE2d 522) (1989); Swett v. State, 242 Ga. 228 (1) (248 SE2d 629) (1978). There being no evidence that appellant acted “solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion . . . ,” the trial court did not err in refusing to give the requested charge on voluntary manslaughter.
Judgment affirmed.
The crime was committed on November 15, 1992, and appellant turned himself in to authorities on November 18, 1992. He was indicted on February 17, 1993, for murder and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime, and was convicted of both offenses on December 9, 1993, following a jury trial commenced on December 6, 1993. A motion for new trial filed December 22, 1993, was withdrawn pursuant to an order filed April 14, 1994. A notice of appeal was filed May 11, 1994; the case was docketed in this court on July 11,1994; and the appeal was submitted following oral argument on October 18, 1994.
The pistol was a Model 48 Brayco/Jennings, .380 caliber.