In th e S u p re m e Co u rt o f Ge o rg ia

De c id e d: Ju n e 6

, 2 0 16

S 1 6 A0 3 5 7 . WILLIAMS v . THE S TATE.

NAHMIAS , Ju stic e

.

A p p e lla n t Do ru n te Willia m s wa s c o nv ic te d o f th e m a lic e m urd e r o f S ta c y

Ba rn e tt, a g g ra v a te d a ssa u lt in v o lv in g fa m ily v i o l en c e a g a in st Te re sa Du b o se

,

a n d p o sse ssio n o f a

fire a rm du rin g th e c o m m issio n o f a fe lo ny . On a p p e a l, h e

c o n te n d s o n ly th a t th e tria l c o u rt e rre d b y a d m ittin g a

h e a rsa y sta te m e n t u n d e r

th e n e c e ssity e x c e ptio n . We a ffirm

. 1

1 The crimes occurred on May 5, 2007. On J uly 1 8, 2007, an Athens-Clarke County g rand

jury indicted Appellant for 16 crimes ag ainst B arnett (malice murder, four c ounts of felony murder,

ag g r avated battery

, ag g ravated a ssault, two counts of possession o f a firearm by a convicted felon,

and seven cou n t s of possession of a firearm d uring the commission of a felony ) a nd f our crimes

ag ainst Dubose (two c o u nts of ag g ravated assault involving family violence, possession of a firearm

during the commission of a felony

, a nd possession o f a k n ife d uring the commission of a felony ).

B e cause Appellant stipulated that he was a convicted felon, the State did not present to the jury one

of the counts for firearm possession by a felon (which differed from the other count only in charg ing

a d ifferent felony conviction), the f elony murder count based on that firearm possession count, and

the p ossession of a firearm during the comm i s s i on of a f elony based on that felony murder count.

Appellant’s first trial in September 2008 resulted in a mistrial during the State’s case-in-chief. At

Appellant’s second trial from November 17 to 2 9, 2 008, the jury found Appellan t gu i l t y of all

charg es ex cept one count o f family violence ag g ravated assault and the two weapons possession

offenses related to D ubose. The trial court se n tenced Appellant to serve life in prison for malice

murder plus a total of 2 5 y e ars for the other counts for which there were g uilty verdicts and which

were not vacated by operation o f law or merg ed by the court. O n F ebruary 17, 2009, Appellant filed

a timely motion f

or new trial, which he ame n d e d w i t h new counsel on March 28, 2014. The trial

court denied the motion on J anuary 27, 2 015. A ppellant filed a timely notice of appeal, and the case

was docketed in this Court for the J a nuary 2016 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.1

. Vie we d in th e lig h t m o st fa v o ra b le to th e v e rd ic ts, th e e v id e n c e a t

tria l sh o we d th e fo llo win g

. On th e m o rn in g of Ma y 5

, 2 0 07

, Du b o se

, wh o wa s

Ap p e lla n t’s g irlfrie n d a nd th e m o th e r o f h is two c h ild re n

, wa s with h im in h e r

Ath e n s a p a rtm e n t. Ap p e lla n t be g a n a c tin g p a ra n o id a n d a c c u se d Du b o se o f

s t e a lin g h is M e g a Millio n s lo tte ry tic k e t, wh ic h h e sa id wa s wo rth m illio n s o f

d o lla rs, a n d hirin g so m e o n e to “ k n o c k h im o ff a n d c a sh th e tic k e t.” Ap p e lla n t,

wh o wa s c a r r yin g a g u n a n d a ste a k kn ife

, d e m a n d e d th a t Du b o se c a ll o ff th e

“ h it.” He c ut h e r le ft h a n d a nd p o k e d h e r in th e rig h t k ne e with th e k n ife in a n

a t t e m p t to g e t h e r to id e ntify th e su p po se d h itm a n

. Du b ose

, wh o h a d n o t

a c tu a lly sto le n Ap p e lla n t’s lo tte ry tic k e t o r h ire d a h itm a n

, a tte m p te d to c a lm

Ap p e lla n t d o wn b y sa y in g t h a t s h e w o u ld c a ll o ff th e hit. At so m e p o in t,

Du b ose ’s siste rs a n d nie c e s c a m e to th e a p a rtm e n t, a n d Ap p e lla n t a sk e d Du b ose

a n d h e r fa m ily m e m

b e rs, “ if th e re wa s a h it o u t to k ill y o u

, wo u ld y o u g e t th e m

first? ” Du b ose le ft th e a

p a rtm e n t a sh o rt tim e la te r an d sp e n t th e n ig h t a t h e r

n ie c e ’s h o m e in Bo wm a n , Ge o rg ia

.

F o llo win g th e in c id e n t with Du b o se

, Ap p e lla nt we n t to a pa rty h o ste d b y

S h e rild o n S c ott, wh ic h b e g a n in th e e a r l y a fte rn o on

. Wh ile a t th e p a rty

,

Ap p e lla n t wa s se e n ta lk in g to Ba rn e tt, a n d Ta rv a rio u s Willia m s, Ba rn e tt’s

2c o u sin

, o v e r h e ar d Ap p e lla n t te ll Ba rn e tt th a t h e h a d wo n th e lo tte ry an d th a t

so m e on e wa s try in g to hu rt h im

. Ap p e lla n t th e n le ft th e p a rty with so m e o n e

wh o d ro p p e d h im o ff a t h is frie n d To m Ellis’s h o u se

, a n d Ba rn e tt le ft with

Ta rv a rio u s to g o to th e sto re th a t Ba rn e tt h a d re c e n tly o p e n e d

. Wh ile tra v e lin g

t o t h e sto re

, Ba rn e tt to ld Ta rv a rio us th a t Ap p e lla n t k e p t a sk in g h im q u e stio n s

a b o u t wh e th e r he wa s “ m e ssin g a ro u n d with ” Ap p e lla n t ’ s g irlfrie nd an d th a t

Ap p e lla n t “ ma d e h im fe e l we ird ” to th e p o in t th a t Ba rn e tt “ d id n ’t fe e l sa fe

a ro u nd h im .”

Ba rn e tt a n d Ta rv a rio u s re tu rn e d to th e p a rty la te r th a t a fte rn o o n

. Aro u n d

1 0 :0 0 p .m

., Ellis d ro v e Ap p e lla n t b a c k to th e p a rty a nd w a ite d o u tsid e in th e c a r

wh ile Ap p e lla n t we n t in to S c o tt’s a p a rtm e n t. Te n o r 1 5 m in ute s la te r, Ellis sa w

Ap p e lla n t c o m e ou t o f th e a p a rtm e n t with Ba rn e tt, re a c h in to h is p a n ts, p u ll o u t

Ellis’s .3 8 0 c a lib e r p isto l (wh ic h Ap p e lla n t h a d ta k e n with o u t te llin g Ellis), a n d

sh o o t Ba rn e tt. A p p e lla nt th e n ra n to E l l i s ’ s c a r

, a n d th e y d ro v e a wa y

. A s

Ap p e lla n t fle d

, pa rty g o e rs wh o h e a r d t h e g un sh o t ra n ou tsid e a n d d isc o v e re d

Ba rn e tt sh o t in th e rig h t sid e o f th e ne c k

. B a rn e tt wa s ta k e n to th e h o sp ita l,

wh e re h e re m a in e d in a

c o m a u n til h is d e a th e ig h t d a y s la te r.

Im m e d ia te ly a fte r th e sh o o tin g

, E llis d ro ve Ap p e lla n t to A tl a n t a a n d

3d ro p p e d h im o ff n e a r Me m o ria l Driv e

. O n th e wa y

, Ap p e lla n t to ld E llis a b o u t

sh o o tin g Ba rn e tt “ in th e d o m e ,” a n d Ap p e lla nt th re w Ellis’ s g u n o u t o f th e

p a sse n g e r sid e w in d o w a s th e y a p p ro a c h e d th e Oc o n e e Riv e r.

Th e n e x t d a y

, Du b o se c o n ta c te d th e p olic e to re p ort th e do m e stic v io le n c e

in c id e n t with Ap p e lla n t. Du bo se wa s in stru c te d to c o m e to th e p o lic e sta tio n

,

wh e re sh e m a d e se v e ra l p h o n e c a lls to A p pe lla n t, wh o to ld h e r th a t h e wa s b e in g

fr a m e d fo r sh o o tin g B a rn e tt. Two d ay s la te r, o n Ma y 8

, Atla nta p o lic e

re sp o n d e d to a su sp ic i o u s

- p e r s o n c a l l a n d f o u n d Ap p e lla n t n e a r Me m o ria l Driv e

.

T h e re sp o nd in g o ffic e r le a rn e d th a t Ap p e lla n t h a d o utsta n din g wa rra n ts f r o m

Ath e n s-Cla rk e C o u n ty a n d a rre ste d h im

. S e v e ra l o ffic e rs n o te d th a t Ap p e lla n t

a p p e a re d a g ita te d a nd still sp o k e a b o u t h is lo tte ry tic k e t.

A p p e lla n t d o e s n o t d isp u te th e le ga l su ffic ie n c y o f t h e e v i d e n c e s u

p p o r t i n g

h is c o n v ic tio n s. Ne v e rth e l e s s

, a s is th is C o u rt’s pra c tic e in m u rd e r c a se s, we

h a v e re v ie we d th e re c ord a n d c o n c l u d e th a t, wh e n v ie we d in th e lig h t m o st

fa v o ra ble to th e ve rd ic ts, th e e v id e n c e pre se n te d a t tria l a n d su m m a riz e d a b o v e

wa s su ffic ie n t to a

u th o riz e a ra tio n a l ju ry to fin d Ap p e lla n t g u ilty b e y o n d a

re a so na b le d o u bt o f th e c rime s fo r w h ic h he wa s c o n v ic te d

. S e e Ja c k so n v

.

Virg in ia

, 4 4 3 U.S

. 3 0 7

, 3 1 9 (9 9 S Ct 2 7 8 1

, 61 LE2 d 56 0) (1 9 79 ). S e e a lso Ve g a

4v

. Sta te

, 2 8 5 Ga

. 32

, 3 3 (6 7 3 S E2 d 2 2 3 ) (2 0 0 9 ) (“ ‘It wa s fo r th e ju ry to

d e te rm in e th e c re d ib ility o f th e witn e sse s a n d to re so lv e a n y c o n f l ic ts o r

in c o nsiste nc ie s in th e e v id e n c e .’” (c ita tio n o m itte d )).

2

. Ap pe lla n t’s so le c o n te ntio n is th a t th e tria l c o u rt e rre d in a llo win g

Ta rv a rio u s Willia m s to te stify a s fo llo ws:

[Ba rn e tt] ju st sta te d to m e th a t [Ap p e lla nt] wa s a sk in g him so m e

q u e stio n s a

b o u t his g irlfrie nd a n d s a y i n g th a t [Ap p e lla nt] wa s

–

th o u g h t h e w a s m e ssin g a ro u n d with h is g irl f r i e n d

. An d it m a d e

h im fe e l we ird

, th a t h e re a lly d id n ’t wa n t to b e a ro u n d [Ap p e lla n t]

, th a t h e d id n ’t k n o w wh a t wa s wro n g o r wh a t wa s g o in g on

, th a t h e

ju st d id n ’t fe e l sa fe a ro u n d h i m. [

. . .] He ju st fe lt kin d o f we ird

, k in d o f ic k y

. . . .

Th is te stim o n y a

b ou t Ba rn e tt’s sta te m e nt w a s u n d isp u te dly h e a rsa y ; th e tria l

c o u rt a d m itte d it u n d e r th e n e c e ssity e x c e p tio n to th e h e a rsa y ru le

. Se e fo rm e r

OCGA § 2 4 -3 -1 (b ). 2

He a rsa y e v id e n c e wa s a d m issib le u n d e r th e n e c e ssity e x c e p tio n if th re e

re q u ire m e n ts w e re m e t: (1 ) th e d e c la ra n t wa s un a v a ilab le ; (2 ) th e d e c la ra n t’s

sta te m e n t wa s re le v a nt to a m a te ria l fa c t a n d wa s m o re p ro ba tiv e a s to th a t fa c t

th a n o th e r e v id e n c e th a t m a y b e p ro c u re d and o ffe re d ; a n d (3 ) th e sta te m e n t

2 This case was tried under Georg ia’s old Evidence Code. T he admissibility of this ty pe of

evidence is now g overned by the “residual” hearsay

ex ception in OCGA § 24-8-807.

5e x h ib ite d p a rtic u la riz e d g u a ra n te e s o f tru stwo rth in e ss. S e e M c Na u g h to n v

.

S ta te

, 2 9 0 Ga

. 8 9 4

, 8 9 7 -8 98 (7 2 5 S E2 d 5 9 0 ) (2 0 1 2 ). In th is c a se

, th e d e c la ra n t,

Ba rn e tt, wa s c le a rly u n a v a ilab le

, a s h e h a d b e e n k ille d b y Ap p e lla n t. S e e id

. a t

8 9 8

. Bu t Ap p e ll a n t a sse rts th a t th e S ta te fa ile d to m e e t th e se c o n d a n d th ird

p a rts o f th e te st. We d isa g re e

.

As to th e se c o n d p a rt, Ba rn e tt’s sta te m e n t wa s re le v a n t to th e m a te ria l fa c t

o f Ap p e lla n t’s m o tiv e fo r sh o o tin g Ba rn e tt

– h is b e lie f th a t Ba rn e tt wa s in v o lv e d

with h is g irlfrie n d

, Du b o se

. Se e Ra i v

. S ta te

, 29 7 Ga

. 4 7 2

, 4 7 7 (7 7 5 S E 2 d 1 2 9 )

(2 0 1 5 ). An d th e sta te m e n t wa s m o re p ro b a tiv e on th is p oin t th a n o th e r a v a ilab le

e v id e n c e

, a s it wa s th e o n ly e v id e n c e th a t p ro v id e d a lin k b e twe e n Ap p e lla n t’s

b e lie f th a t so m e o n e w a s p lo ttin g with Du b o se to kill him a n d h is d e c isio n to k ill

Ba rn e tt. T h e r e is n o in d ic a tio n th a t th e S ta te c o u ld h a ve p ro c u re d o th e r

e v id e n c e o n th is p o in t; th e te stim o n y a t tria l in dic a te d th a t no witn e ss h e a rd th e

re le v a n t p o rtio n o f th e c o n v e rsa tio n b e twe e n A p p e lla n t an d Ba rn e tt a t th e p a rty

.

As to th e th ird p a rt o f th e te st, “ [w] h e th e r a sta te m e n t is tru stwo rth y is a

m a tte r fo r th e tria l c o u rt’s d isc re tio n

, a n d th e e xe rc ise of su c h d isc re tio n will n o t

b e ov e rtu rn e d a

b se n t a n a b u se o f d isc re tio n .” Gib so n v

. S ta te

, 2 9 0 G a

. 6, 8 (7 1 7

S E2 d 4 4 7 ) (2 0 1 1 ). “Tru stwo rth in e ss is a sse sse d u n d e r th e to ta lity o f th e

6c irc u m s t a n c e s, in c lu din g a ny m o tiv e s th e d e c la ra nt m a y h a v e h a d to b e

u n tru th fu l in m a k in g th e sta te m e n t

. . . a n d th e e x t e n t t o wh i c h th e de c la ra n t

e n jo y e d a re la tio n sh ip o f c o n fid e n c e with th e witn e ss.” R a i

, 29 7 Ga

. a t 4 7 2

.

S e e a lso Th o m

p so n v

. Sta te

, 2 9 4 Ga 6 9 3

, 6 9 7 (7 5 5 SE2 d 7 1 3 ) (2 0 1 4 )

(e x p la in in g in a c a se in vo lv in g th e te stim o n y o f th e m u rd e r v ic tim ’s c o u sin th a t

“ a sta te m e n t is tru stwo rth y wh e re th e re is a sh o win g th a t th e d e c e a se d e n jo y e d

a c lo se p e rso n a l re la tio n sh ip t o th e p e rso n w h o is te stify in g a s to th e

sta te m e n t” ); Wrig h t v

. S ta te

, 2 7 6 Ga

. 45 4, 4 5 8 (5 7 9 S E2 d 2 14 ) (2 0 0 3) (“ [T] h e

tru stwo rth in e ss o f th e sta te m e n ts is e n h a n c e d b y th e fa c t th a t [th e d e c la ra n t’s]

sta te m e n ts to t

h e w i t n e s s e s th a t c on c e rn e d [th e d e fe n d a n t’s] b e h a v io r we re m a d e

a t tim e s sh o rtly a fte r th a t b e h a v io r o c c u rre d .” ).

He re

, Ba rn e tt’s sta te m e n t b o re sig n ific a nt in d ic ia o f tru stwo rth in e ss

b e c a u se Ta rv a rio u s te stifie d th a t B a rn e tt wa s h is c o u sin fo r wh om h e h a d “ c lo se

fe e lin g s” ; Ba rn e tt h a d n o a p p a re n t m o tiv e t o fa

b ric a te th e sta te m e n t; Ba rn e tt

m a d e th e sta te m e n t to Ta rv a rio u s sh o rtly a fte r th e c o n v e rsa tio n b e twe e n Ba rn e tt

a n d Ap p e lla n t; a n d th e sta te m e n t a lig n e d with Du b o se ’s te stim o n y a b o u t

Ap p e lla n t’s p a ra n o id a lle g a tio n s. Ap pe lla n t p o in ts o u t th a t Ta rv a rio u s d id n o t

te ll th e p o lic e a

b o u t th is sta te m e n t un til m o re th a n 1 8 m o n th s a fte r th e m u rd e r,

7wh e n h e w a s f ac in g c rim in a l c h a rg e s. 3 Bu t th a t on e p o in t is no t c o n tro llin g

.

Co n sid e rin g a ll th e c irc um sta n c e s, th e tria l c o u rt d id no t a b u se its d isc re tio n in

a d m ittin g Ta

rv a rio u s’s te stim o n y a

b o ut Ba rn e tt’s sta te m e nt.

Ju d g m e n t a ffirm e d . All th e Ju stic e s c o nc u r.

3 Tarvarious testified, outside of the jury ’ s presence, that h e w a s c u rrently in jail on a

pending probation revocation matter, but that he had not been promised any sort of benefit for his

testimony

. And while Tarvarious was interviewed by the police shortly after B arnett was shot, he

was not asked questions about the events that occurred earlier that day

.

8