FOSTER v. THE STATE.
S18A1494.
Supreme Court of Georgia
October 22, 2018.
304 Ga. 624
MELTON, Chief Justice.
Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Downs.
Following a jury trial, Jerome Foster was found guilty of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, and related crimes in connection with the robbery, beating, and strangling death of Kenneth Scott, Jr.1 In his sole enumeration on appeal, Foster contends that, because the statements of an accomplice linking him to the crimes were not sufficiently corroborated, the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions. We affirm.
1.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that, from the evening of Thursday, August 16, 2012 into the early morning of Friday, August 17, Scott worked the night shift at U.S. Foods in Fairburn, Georgia. Scott was known by his friends as “Stuntman,” because he liked to carry and flaunt large amounts of сash, sometimes cashing his entire Thursday paycheck. Scott picked up and cashed his weekly paycheck early on the afternoon of August 16.
After clocking out of work at 2:57 a.m. on August 17, Scott waited in his pickup truck in the U.S. Fоods parking lot for Foster, whose employer, Sensational Cleaning Service, contracted out its workers to provide janitorial services to U.S. Foods. Foster left his shift around the same time as Scott to meet with him under thе pretense of selling him gift cards. However, Foster and another man, Andrew Ball, planned to rob Scott instead. With Ball hiding in the back of Foster‘s car, Foster drove from the U.S. Foods parking lot to an isolated location, and Sсott followed Foster in his pickup truck. While Foster spoke with Scott upon reaching their destination, Ball jumped out of his hiding spot in Foster‘s car and began fighting Scott. Foster then beat Scott with a baseball bat, Foster and Ball robbed him, and they strangled him to death with a canvas belt.
Before returning to work, Foster entered through a bedroom window of the home that he shared with his wife, Pamela Thomas, at around 4:00 a.m.; he stated that he had spilled chemicаls on his work clothes and needed to change. Later that morning between 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., Foster‘s co-workers Wanda Odom and her husband, Jeff, spotted Foster on foot coming up a small road behind a McDonald‘s at a fast рace. The couple offered Foster a ride to work, and he eventually accepted. Wanda inquired as to why Foster was on foot, to which he replied his car had broken down on the highway. Jeff, a mechanic, offered to look at the vehicle, but Foster declined. Wanda testified that Foster smelled of soap as if he had just showered and that he was not wearing his regular work uniform.
Later on August 18, Ball came to Foster and Thomas’ home and described to Thomas and her family what had transpired between him, Foster, and Scott. Ball told them about the plan to meet with Scott under the pretense of selling him gift cards, the attack on Scott, Foster joining thе fight and hitting Scott with a baseball bat, and the men taking Scott‘s money.
On August 24, 2012, Scott‘s decomposing body was found about a mile away from U.S. Foods near a dirt road in Fulton County. Scott‘s pants had been pulled down below his knees, and his poсkets were turned inside out as if someone had gone through them and pulled something out. A canvas belt was around his neck, which the State‘s medical examiner noted was an indication of possible strangulation.2 A bloody washcloth was found at Foster‘s home, and freshly laundered pants with blood-like stains were found in Foster‘s car.3 Cell phone records showed that Scott‘s last calls were to Foster.
Before Scott‘s body was found, Foster quit his job at Sensational Cleaning, telling a co-worker that he was afraid that the police suspected that he had something to do with Scott‘s disappearance.
2.
Foster argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the vеrdict because Ball‘s statements were not sufficiently corroborated. We disagree.
Pursuant to
Pretermitting the question whether the hearsay statements involved here even needed to be corroborated at trial to establish certain facts,5 we now consider whether
[S]ufficient corroborating evidence may be circumstantial, it may be slight, and it need not of itself be sufficient to warrant a conviction of the crime charged. It must, however, be independent of the accomplice testimony and must directly connect the defendant with the crime, or lead to the inference that he is guilty. Slight evidence from an extraneous source identifying the accused as a participant in the criminal act is sufficient corroboration of the accomplice to support a verdict.
(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Threatt v. State, 293 Ga. 549, 551 (1) (748 SE2d 400) (2013).6
Here, independent evidence revealed that (1) Scott was known to cаrry large amounts of money after getting paid and had just cashed his check prior to meeting with Foster; (2) Foster and Scott left U.S. Foods at around the same time on the night Scott went missing; (3) Scott‘s last calls were to Foster; (4) Scott‘s bоdy was found with his pants pockets inside out, as if someone had rifled through them; (5) Foster entered his home through a window on the night of the murder, claiming that he needed to change clothes after having spilled something on them; (6) Foster hаd bloody pants; (7) a bloody washcloth was found at Foster‘s home after the murder; (8) Foster admitted to being with Scott and Ball the night of the murder; (9) Foster drove and participated in the burning of Scott‘s truck after the night of Scott‘s murder; and (10) Fоster suddenly left his job shortly after Scott was reported missing, citing his own fears that he might have been implicated in Scott‘s disappearance. “[E]vidence of the defendant‘s conduct before and after the crime may give rise to an inference that he participated in the crime.” Parkerson v. State, 265 Ga. 438, 439 (2) (457 SE2d 667) (1995). Despite Ball being the only witness to Foster‘s attack on Scott, there was ample independent corroborating evidence from before and after the attack to implicate Foster in the killing and robbing of Scott.
Additionally, the evidence was sufficient as a matter of constitutional due process to enable the jury to find Foster guilty of the crimes for which he was cоnvicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
Decided October 22, 2018.
Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Downs.
Michael W. Tarleton, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder, Kevin C. Armstrong, Assistant District Attorneys; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Elizabeth H. Brоck, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.