WILSON v. THE STATE
S14A0100
Supreme Court of Georgia
DECIDED APRIL 22, 2014
295 Ga. 84 | 757 SE2d 825
NAHMIAS, Justice.
Appellant also asserts trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the pathologist‘s testimony. We disagree.
[A]ssuming arguendo that an objection to the offending argument would have had merit, [appellant] has not shown a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different had counsel made the objection. See Lambert v. State, 287 Ga. 774, 777 (2) (700 SE2d 354) (2010) (where evidence of guilt is overwhelming, a defendant cannot demonstrate the required prejudice under Strickland).
Sanders v. State, 290 Ga. 637, 641 (5) (723 SE2d 436) (2012). Evidence of appellant‘s systematic abuse of S. K. and A. K., the inconsistencies in appellant‘s statements, his inability to remember what happened to Kaylee, and the presence of Kaylee‘s blood and saliva on appellant‘s denim shorts, lead us to conclude that appellant cannot carry the burden of proof on the prejudice prong of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
DECIDED APRIL 22, 2014.
Steven A. Miller, for appellant.
Lee Darragh, District Attorney, Kelley M. Robertson, Assistant District Attorney, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Ryan A. Kolb, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
S14A0100. WILSON v. THE STATE.
(757 SE2d 825)
NAHMIAS, Justice.
Roland Wilson appeals his conviction for felony murder resulting from the beating death of William Okafor. Appellant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction, the trial court‘s admission of hearsay evidence, and the court‘s refusal to grant a
1. (a) Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial showed the following. On the evening of July 26, 2009, Okafor had his half-sister, Saronda Reid, and her daughters over for a family barbeque at the house he shared with his mother, Carletta Sharp (Mrs. Sharp), and stepfather, Eddie Sharp (Mr. Sharp). Shortly after Reid left, Mrs. Sharp heard a knock on the door; it was Appellant and three other men. Mrs. Sharp recognized Appellant because he had worked for her since 2008 and was a close family friend who would frequently come to her home for dinner. Appellant had come to talk to Okafor about a video game system that he believed Okafor had stolen from him. Okafor went outside to talk with Appellant and the other men, and Mrs. Sharp watched through a window as Appellant picked up a brick and hit her son in the back of his head so hard that the brick broke in half. Appellant then jumped in a car with the other men and fled. Okafor was taken to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a serious closed head injury; he died five days later. The medical examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt impact head trauma.
At trial, Mrs. Sharp identified Appellant as the man who hit Okafor with the brick. Mr. Sharp had died before the trial, but Reid testified that minutes after she left the barbeque at her parents’ house, her father called her and said that she needed to come back because “they just beat Willie... It was Roland and them.” Mr. Sharp then explained that he had seen Appellant grab a brick, pick it up, and hit Okafor. In addition, Walter McFalls testified that, during a card game when they were in jail together, Appellant admitted hitting Okafor in the head with a brick while bragging about how he would get away with the crime.
(b) Appellant argues that the State‘s witnesses were unreliable and inconsistent, and notes his own testimony that, although he had a physical altercation with Okafor outside the house, Alfred Bryant was the man who hit the victim in the head with a brick. However, “[i]t was for the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence.” Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32, 33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009) (citation omitted). Likewise, it was for the jury to decide whether the defense theory that Bryant was the killer was reasonable and not excluded by the other evidence, much of which was direct rather than circumstantial evidence. See Brown v. State, 291 Ga. 892, 895 (734 SE2d 23) (2012);
2. Appellant contends that the trial court erred when it allowed Saronda Reid to testify over objection about Mr. Sharp‘s out-of-court statements under the necessity exception to the rule against hearsay. See Mathis v. State, 291 Ga. 268, 270-271 (728 SE2d 661) (2012);
Because Mr. Sharp died before the trial and was thus unavailable to testify, the first element of this test was satisfied. See Mathis, 291 Ga. at 271. Regarding the second element, “a statement is trustworthy when made to someone with whom the declarant enjoys a close personal relationship.” Id. In this case, the declarant was Reid‘s father, and she testified that they spoke daily about family matters and confidential subjects, so the second element was also satisfied. See id. As to the third element, however, Mr. Sharp‘s out-of-court statements identifying Appellant as the man who beat his stepson do not appear to be the most probative evidence available to establish Appellant‘s identity as the killer, because Mrs. Sharp testified directly to that same fact. See Willis v. State, 274 Ga. 699, 700 (558 SE2d 393) (2002).
But even if Mr. Sharp‘s statements to Reid should not have been admitted for this reason, and pretermitting whether any such error would be harmless because Mr. Sharp‘s statements were cumulative of Mrs. Sharp‘s testimony, see Johnson v. State, 293 Ga. 641, 643 (748 SE2d 896) (2013), the record shows that his statements were admissible. When he spoke to Reid just minutes after his stepson had been brutally attacked to recount what had happened, Mr. Sharp was “screaming,” “upset,” and “very emotional.” His statements to Reid were therefore properly admissible under the hearsay exception for excited utterances. See
3. Appellant also contends that the trial court erred when it denied his motion for a mistrial after the prosecutor said in closing argument that Appellant‘s failure to contact the police after the attack was evidence of his guilt. We agree that the prosecutor‘s
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
DECIDED APRIL 22, 2014.
Anthony S. Carter, for appellant.
Layla H. Zon, District Attorney, Melanie M. Bell, Jillilan R. Hall, Assistant District Attorneys, Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.