366 S.E.2d 158 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1988
James A. Mattox was indicted for murder but convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife. Defendant enumerates fourteen errors, none of which have merit.
1. Construed most strongly in favor of the verdict, the evidence of record is such that any rational trier of fact could have found defendant guilty of voluntary manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt. See Thomas v. State, 141 Ga. App. 192 (233 SE2d 41) (1977); Nolen v. State, 124 Ga. App. 593 (184 SE2d 674) (1971); see also May v. State, 146 Ga. App. 416 (3) (246 SE2d 432) (1978). The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for directed verdict. Holt v. State, 157 Ga. App. 405 (1) (278 SE2d 59) (1981).
2. The trial court gave the following charge on the law relating to incriminatory statements: “A confession is direct evidence, but an incriminatory statement is indirect or circumstantial evidence and it must exclude every other reasonable theory except that of the guilt of the accused. If you find that the defendant made an incriminatory
We find the language complained of, when considered in isolation, could potentially be construed as burden-shifting and, thus, disapprove of its use.
3. Under the circumstances in this case, we find no error in the trial court’s ruling that defendant voluntarily consented to the warrantless search of his residence. See Dean v. State, 250 Ga. 77 (2a) (295 SE2d 306) (1982).
4. Defendant’s unsupported assertion that he “believes” that the State’s case file contains certain exculpatory information “which would have been helpful to him in his defense and which was not furnished to him during the course of the trial” provides no basis for reversal of his conviction. See, e.g., Wallin v. State, 248 Ga. 29 (6) (279 SE2d 687) (1981); Baker v. State, 245 Ga. 657 (3) (266 SE2d 477) (1980); see also Barnes v. State, 157 Ga. App. 582 (2) (277 SE2d 916) (1981).
5. We find it highly probable that, in light of the charge as a whole, the trial court’s incidental use of the word “confession” in its jury instructions relating to incriminatory statements (see Division 2, supra) did not contribute to the verdict in this case. E.g., Richards v. State, 251 Ga. 447 (1) (306 SE2d 302) (1983); Golden v. State, 250 Ga. 428 (4) (297 SE2d 479) (1982), cert. den., 460 U. S. 1046 (1983).
6. We find no error in the trial court’s striking, sua sponte, a question by defense counsel to defendant’s daughter, and her answer thereto, concerning her opinion as to defendant’s intent in shooting the victim. See Boyce v. State, 184 Ga. App. 578 (3) (362 SE2d 229) (1987).
7. Defendant’s remaining enumerations of error are either riot supported by proper objection or not. supported by the record on appeal and thus provide no basis for reversal.
Judgment affirmed.
Substituting the term “inference” in lieu of the term “presumption” would appear to cure this infirmity. See Wilson v. Jones, 251 Ga. 23 (302 SE2d 546) (1983).