Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/georgia/court-of-appeals/1997/a96a1989.html
Timestamp: 2019-10-18 15:53:57
Document Index: 509696286

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 15', '§ 15', '§ 24', '§ 24', '§ 16', '§ 16']

Herring v. State :: 1997 :: Court of Appeals of Georgia Decisions :: Georgia Case Law :: Georgia Law :: US Law :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Georgia Case Law › Court of Appeals of Georgia Decisions › 1997 › Herring v. State
481 S.E.2d 842 (1997)
224 Ga. App. 809
No. A96A1989.
Reconsideration Denied February 25, 1997.
*844 Lenzer & Lenzer, Robert W. Lenzer, Thomas P. Lenzer, Norcross, for appellant.
*843 BEASLEY, Judge.
Herring was convicted by a jury for kidnapping with bodily injury, OCGA § 16-5-40, and aggravated assault with an automobile console lid, OCGA § 16-5-21. He was acquitted of other charges, and his motion for new trial was denied.
The evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence; in addition, an appellate court does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility but only determines whether the evidence is sufficient under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979). Howard v. State, 261 Ga. 251, 252, 403 S.E.2d 204 (1991); King v. State, 213 Ga.App. 268, 269, 444 S.E.2d 381 (1994).
The juror subsequently called from work, near the repair shop where his truck was being serviced, and informed the court it would not be ready until later that afternoon.
*845 He provided the court with his work number and indicated a desire to continue as a juror. During the morning recess and after the juror had already been replaced, the court contacted the juror to instruct him that he must either come to the courthouse voluntarily or be transported by a deputy sheriff on a bench warrant.
OCGA § 15-12-172 provides: "If at any time, whether before or after final submission of the case to the jury, a juror dies, becomes ill, upon other good cause shown to the court is found to be unable to perform his duty, or is discharged for other legal cause, the first alternate juror shall take the place of the first juror becoming incapacitated."
This Code section implicitly authorizes the trial court to exercise its discretion. Baptiste v. State, 190 Ga.App. 451, 453(2), 379 S.E.2d 165 (1989). But it must be an informed exercise, Scott v. State, 219 Ga.App. 798, 799(2), 466 S.E.2d 678 (1996), since "the erroneous replacement of a juror may under certain circumstances deprive a defendant of his valued right to have his trial completed by a particular tribunal, his sixth amendment right to a fair, impartial and representative jury, and his due process rights grounded in the entitlement to procedures mandated by state law." Peek v. Kemp, 784 F.2d 1479, 1483(2) (11th Cir.1986). See also United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 484(II), 91 S. Ct. 547, 556-57, 27 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1971). "`There must be some "sound" basis upon which the trial judge exercise(s) his discretion' to remove the juror. [Cit.] Dismissal of a juror `for want of any factual support, or for a legally irrelevant reason' is prejudicial. [Cit.]" Green v. Zant, 715 F.2d 551, 555 (11th Cir.1983).
This is not a situation where the jury was deadlocked or had begun deliberations, when the need for investigation and the possibility of harmful error are heightened. See Hill v. State, 263 Ga. 37, 41(8), 427 S.E.2d 770 (1993); Scott, supra; Stokes v. State, 204 Ga.App. 141, 142(1), 418 S.E.2d 419 (1992). Herring "has not shown how he was prejudiced by the use of an alternate, since pursuant to OCGA § 15-12-169 alternates are selected in the same manner and must have the same qualifications as members impaneled as the jury. `The single purpose for voir dire is the ascertainment of the impartiality of jurors, their ability to treat the cause on the merits with objectivity and freedom from bias and prior inclination. The control of the pursuit of such determination is within the sound legal discretion of the trial court, and only in the event of manifest abuse will it be upset upon review.' [Cit.]" Forney v. State, 255 Ga. 316, 317(1), 338 S.E.2d 252 (1986). Replacing the juror "had no more effect of denying [Herring] a qualified jury than if the juror had become ill or died. The alternate juror statute was designed to alleviate situations *846 such as these." Neal v. State, 160 Ga.App. 834, 837(2), 288 S.E.2d 241 (1982).
2. The second enumeration is that the court allowed the State to violate Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963), in failing to disclose certain memoranda of meetings the prosecutor had with Mrs. Herring before her testimony at Herring's bond reduction hearing and at trial, and that the court erred in denying his motion for mistrial on this ground.
Herring cites Hines v. State, 249 Ga. 257, 259-260(2), 290 S.E.2d 911 (1982), in which the Supreme Court determined from its reading of Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 94 S. Ct. 1105, 39 L. Ed. 2d 347 (1974), that the state and federal constitutions guarantee to a criminal defendant a specific right to cross-examine a key State's witness concerning pending criminal charges against that witness, since, on a subconscious level, he may be shading the testimony in an effort to please the prosecution. Herring argues he was to entitled to a thorough and sifting cross-examination, OCGA § 24-9-64, to fully explore the possibility of Mrs. Herring's cloudy perceptions and biases.
No Brady violation occurred, since the materials were made available to Herring during trial. Brady does not require pretrial disclosure of materials sought by the defendant. Dennard v. State, 263 Ga. 453, 454(4), 435 S.E.2d 26 (1993). Herring must show that earlier disclosure would have benefited him and that the delayed disclosure deprived him of a fair trial. Id.
3. Herring next contends the court contravened OCGA § 24-2-2 by admitting evidence of prior domestic violence by Herring towards his wife to show course of conduct and bent of mind, when the prior incidents were not sufficiently similar to the incidents on trial. This case is similar to Bohannon v. State, 208 Ga.App. 576, 579(2)(b), 431 S.E.2d 149 (1993), where testimony as to episodes of the accused's past physical abuse of the victim, whom he had been involved with romantically, was admissible as evidence of similar transactions.
As in Bohannon, the State satisfied the three-prong test of Williams v. State, 261 Ga. 640, 409 S.E.2d 649 (1991), in a Uniform Superior Court Rule 31.3 hearing at which the State showed that (1) the evidence was proffered not to raise an improper inference *847 as to the accused's character, but for some appropriate purpose recognized as an exception to the general rule of inadmissibility, i.e., Herring's systematic course of conduct in physically abusing his wife and his bent of mind to commit acts of violence against her; (2) Herring committed the prior acts; and (3) there is a sufficient logical connection or similarity between the prior difficulties and the crime charged so that proof of the former tends to prove the latter. Id. at 642, n. 3, 409 S.E.2d 649.
"The rule allowing the admission of similar transaction evidence is usually applied more liberally with evidence of prior attempts by the accused to commit the same crime upon the victim of the offense for which he stands charged. Certain otherwise inexplicable assaults, such as occur in a series of incidents of wife or child abuse, particularly lend themselves to this exception to the `other offenses' rule on questions of both identity and motive." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Parcell v. State, 198 Ga.App. 439(1), 401 S.E.2d 628 (1991). The evidence was properly admitted.
5. Herring next contends the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the State to introduce the similar transaction evidence prior to evidence relating to the charged offenses. He cites Gilstrap v. State, 261 Ga. 798, 410 S.E.2d 423 (1991), in which the Supreme Court found that allowing the prosecutor to introduce nine similar transactions from witnesses other than the victim before introducing evidence concerning the crimes charged raised a substantial possibility the jury could have determined the defendant's guilt solely on the similar transaction evidence. Id. at 799(2), 410 S.E.2d 423.
Gilstrap "expressly declined to determine the limits on the trial court's discretion as to the order of the admission of evidence," since the order of proof is generally within the trial court's discretion and will not be disturbed on appeal absent abuse. (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Bailey v. State, 209 Ga.App. 390, 394(5), 433 S.E.2d 610 (1993). As in Bailey, "the testimony objected to came only from the victim and not other witnesses. ... [T]he trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the victim to testify in chronological order about her abuse even though such a presentation resulted in the admission of ... similar transaction evidence prior to the evidence on the crimes charged." Id. Mrs. Herring's testimony, in which the episodes of abuse were recounted in chronological order, demonstrated Herring's escalating violence toward his wife, culminating in the most violent assault, the one on trial. Herring accordingly cannot show he was prejudiced or that the court abused its discretion in allowing a logical presentation which gave context to the subject incident.
6. Herring urges error in the imposition of a ten-year sentence for aggravated assault. The State agrees. Verdict was for both kidnapping with bodily injury and aggravated assault. The court noted that the two crimes merge, see OCGA § 16-1-6, and imposed a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for the kidnapping conviction and, as an alternative to merger, ten years concurrent for aggravated assault "just in case something happens on appeal."
Aggravated assault is a lesser included offense of, and is accordingly merged with, the crime of kidnapping with bodily injury. George v. State, 192 Ga.App. 840, 842(3), 386 S.E.2d 669 (1989). The aggravated assault sentence is reversed, and the trial court is directed to vacate it.
7. Herring enumerates as error the court's allowing the State to cross-examine him about certain statements he made to police before given Miranda warnings, after the court ruled those statements inadmissible at a Jackson v. Denno hearing. Although Herring objected, he did not give any particular reason. In order to preserve a ground for error, the objecting party must state the specific ground upon which it is based. "[A]n otherwise valid reason why evidence *848 should not be admitted will not be considered on appeal unless the specific reason was urged below." Fletcher v. State, 199 Ga.App. 756, 757, 406 S.E.2d 245 (1991). Even if the ground was preserved by the Jackson-Denno hearing results, Herring suffered no harm because he testified to similar statements he made to his wife on two occasions.
8. Herring maintains the court erred in failing to give his justification defense charges based on OCGA § 16-3-20. The court's lengthy instruction to the jury in this regard was adjusted to the evidence and fully and properly informed the jury as to justification and self-defense. The court was not required to give the exact language of Herring's request when the same principles were expressed in the general charge. Howard v. State, 151 Ga.App. 759, 760, 261 S.E.2d 483 (1979).
9. The final enumeration is that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. As Herring recognizes, this court addresses sufficiency under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1979). There was ample evidence from which a rational trier of fact could determine Herring's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt of the offenses charged. Grant v. State, 195 Ga.App. 463, 393 S.E.2d 737 (1990).