Hirаm Jones was tried by a Dougherty County jury and convicted of felony murder and armed robbery in connection with the stabbing death of J.M. “Jake” King.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presеnted at trial shows that Jones and Javario Beach talked about going to a fair on the evening of November 3, 2005, but Jones said that he could not go because he had no money Beach went to the fair without Jones, and while he was there, Beach received several calls from Jones, asking Beach to pick him up. Beаch left the fair and drove with two other friends to a home on Tremont Avenue in Albany, where they found Jones. They observed that Jones was “acting weird,” “looked like something was wrong,” was carrying a bag of clothes, and also was carrying between 80 and 100 dollars. They agreed to drive Jones to a home on North Madison Street.
The next day, King wаs found dead in a wooded area off Watkins Avenue. King was lying next to his taxicab, which had been wrecked, and the interior of which was covered in blood. The taxi meter indicated that one passenger was in the cab at the time it was wrecked. An autopsy later revealed that King had been stabbed 34 times, suffering five major wounds. His wallet, сell phone, and most of the cash that he was known to carry could not be found at the scene. Law enforcement officers did find, however, a bloody pair of pants. In the course of their investigation, officers traced the pants to Jones, and they searched the home on Tremont Avenue, where they found a knife — which belonged to King and had King’s blood on it — and a paper with the name of King’s wife written on it.
Officers interviewed Jones on three occasions. In the first and second interviews, Jones offered that he was walking through the woods when he happened upon the wrecked taxicab. Jones said that he tried to help King, got blood on his hands as а result, and wiped his hands on the interior of the cab and his own pants. Jones explained that he was wearing gym shorts under his pants, and so, he simply took off his bloody pants and left them at the scene. After these interviews, officers let Jones speak with his father and uncle, and then with his mother. His mother urged Jones to tell the truth and to disclose if anyone else was with him on the evening in question. Jones told his mother that he did not know anything and that no one was with him. But after talking with his mother, Jones volunteered for another interview with the investigating officers.
In this third interview, Jones completely changed his story and admitted to being present when King was stabbed. Jones said that a man named “Allen” approaсhed him on November 3 at the home on North Madison and invited him to join Allen for a robbery. Jones agreed, Allen called for a taxicab, and King picked up Jones and Allen in his cab. King drove them to the south side of Albany, where he asked them to pay the fare. When they said that they had no money, King locked the doors of the cab and сalled his dispatcher. At that point, Jones said, Allen attacked King with a knife, and the cab went into the woods, where it crashed. Jones was unable to give a full name or address for Allen, but Jones told the officers that Allen lived in the neighborhood of the home on North Madison, that he had dark skin and dreadlocks, that he liked to wear camouflage clothing, and that he often rode a bicycle.
Officers subsequently found a man who lived in that neighborhood, matched the description given by Jones, and went by the name “Allen.” That man cooperated with the investigating officers, submitting to an interview, a search of his home, and the taking of his fingerprints and a blood sample. But the officеrs found no evidence (aside from Jones’s story) linking the man to the crimes. Beach had known Jones for many years and had never heard of an “Allen.”
Jones testified at trial, where he told the jury that Allen approached him at the North Madison home on November 3. According to Jones, Allen mentioned that he intended to rob some drug dealers at some later point, but Jones only agreed to accompany Allen to a party at a location known as “Mt. Zion.” Before proceeding to Mt. Zion, however, Jones wanted to drop by the home on Tremont Avenue to get a bottle of gin. Allen called for a taxicab, King picked them up, and he drove them first to Tremont Avenue
Jones does not dispute that the evidence is sufficient to sustain his convictions. Nevertheless, as is our customary practice in murder cases, we independently have reviewed the record with an eye toward the legal sufficiency of the evidence. We conclude the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Jones was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia,
2. Jones argues that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when his trial lаwyer questioned him on direct examination about his disciplinary record in jail, thereby opening a door for the prosecution to elicit testimony on cross-examination about his numerous bad acts while incarcerated. On direct, Jones volunteered that he had been in jail for a year and a half. His lawyer then asked: “Since you mentioned being at the jail for a year and a half, [have] you been in some trouble since you’ve been out there?” Jones answered in the affirmative, and his lawyer then asked about how many times Jones had been “written up.” When Jones tried to explain himself and mentioned fighting officers in the jail, his lawyer moved on to another line оf questioning. On cross, however, the prosecuting attorney questioned Jones extensively about his disciplinary history at the jail, revealing that Jones was disciplined for possession of contraband tobacco, that Jones had as many as 30 disciplinary write-ups, that a psychiatrist at the jail may have told Jones that he was malingering, that Jones cursed at a female officer and called her a “b***h,” that Jones purportedly attacked someone with a dustpan handle, that Jones was shackled and handcuffed in his cell because he “attacked so many people,” and that, on one occasion, Jones smashed a video camera оut of an officer’s hand. Jones contends that this information was highly prejudicial, and he speculates that it may have led the jury to return a verdict based on its perception that he has a general propensity for violence.
To obtain relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel, Jones must show both that his сounsel’s performance was deficient and that this deficient performance prejudiced him. Strickland v. Washington,
Even assuming that Jones’s trial lawyer performed unreasonably when she asked Jones on direct examination about his disciplinary history without knowing the answer,
In short, Jones admitted to being present when King was killed, the physical evidence suggested that Jones (and no one else) was present at the time of the killing, Jones needed money shortly before the killing, he came into possession of money around the time of the robbery and killing, and there were ample grounds for a reasonable jury to discredit Jones’s self-serving accounts.
3. Jones contends that the trial court erred when it charged the jury that, “[w]hen a defendant’s statements are not consistent with and do not explain other direct and circumstantial evidence, the defendant’s explanation may be rejected by you, the jury, as triers of fact.” Jones concedes that this charge is a correct statement of the law, but he complains that the trial court gave the charge in the midst of other instructions about the admissibility of his pretrial statements.
Even when we find error in a jury charge, we will not reverse when the error is harmless, that is, when “it is highly probable that [the] instruction did not contribute to the verdict.” Hodges v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
King was killed on November 3, 2005. On January 25, 2006, a Dougherty Cоunty grand jury indicted Jones, charging him with malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and armed robbery. Jones stood trial from March 12 to March 15, 2007. There was a mistrial as to malice murder (because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on that count), but the jury found Jones guilty of the other crimes with which he was charged. Thе trial court sentenced Jones to imprisonment for life for felony murder and a consecutive term of imprisonment for life for armed robbery. The trial court merged the aggravated assaults into the felony murder and armed robbery. Jones filed a motion for new trial on April 10, 2007, and he amended that motion several times, filing his final amendment on March 16,2 015. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion on February 2, 2017. Jones timely appealed, and this case was docketed to the August 2017 term of this Court and submitted for a decision on the briefs.
Most notably, Jones said in his third interview that he agreed to commit a robbery with Allen. At trial, Jones said that he agreed only to accompаny Allen to a party.
We note that, even if the jury might have given some credit to Jones’s account about Allen stabbing King — a proposition that strikes us as far-fetched in light of the entire record — it still might properly have found Jones guilty of murder and armed robbery as an accomplice. After all, Jones said in his third interview that he had agreed to help Allen commit a robbery; at trial, although he said that he had only agreed to go with Allen to a party, Jones admitted that Allen had mentioned a robbery. Jones lied to investigating officers and withheld any mention of Allen until his third interview. And it was Jones — not Allen — who was observed with money after the robbery and killing, suggesting that Jones wound up with the proceеds of the crime. See OCGA § 16-2-20 (a person is a party to the crime if he “[intentionally aids or abets in the commission of the crime”); Stewart v. State,
The charge in question was given close in time to instructions about the voluntariness of statements and violations of Miranda v. Arizona,