Case Name: BERNYK v. THE STATE
Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1987-03-18
Citations: 182 Ga. App. 329
Docket Number: 73121
Parties: BERNYK v. THE STATE.
Judges: Deen, P. J., concurs. Beasley, J., concurs specially.
Reporter: Georgia Appeals Reports
Volume: 182
Pages: 329–333

Head Matter:
73121.
BERNYK v. THE STATE.
(355 SE2d 753)

Opinion:
Benham, Judge.
Richard Bernyk appeals from his conviction and sentence for armed robbery.
1. Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss based on an alleged violation of OCGA § 42-6-20, Art. IV (e), Interstate Agreement on Detainers which provides in pertinent part: "If trial is not had on any indictment, information or complaint contemplated hereby prior to the prisoner's being returned to the original place of imprisonment pursuant to Article V (e) hereof, such indictment, information or complaint shall not be of any further force or effect, and the court shall enter an order dismissing the same prejudice."
The evidence adduced at trial showed that appellant, while in federal custody in Tennessee, filed a motion for disposition of his cases pursuant to OCGA § 42-6-20, Art. Ill (a). Thereafter, on March 4, 1985, he was brought to Fulton County Georgia where he entered pleas of guilty to two armed robberies. On April 8, 1985, he was returned to federal authorities in Tennessee. Subsequent to his return, appellant was indicted for armed robbery by the DeKalb County Grand Jury in Georgia. On June 21, 1985, appellant filed another request for disposition of his cases. He was again returned to Georgia; and on October 15, 1985, a jury in DeKalb Superior Court convicted him for the offense of armed robbery. Appellant argues since he was returned to federal custody by Georgia prior to the disposition of his DeKalb County charges, he is entitled to dismissal of his indictment in DeKalb County pursuant to OCGA § 42-6-20, Art. IV (e). We disagree.
Art. III (d) of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers provides: "Any request for final disposition made by a prisoner pursuant to paragraph (a) hereof shall operate as a request for final disposition of all untried indictments, informations or complaints on the basis of which detainers have been lodged against the prisoner from the state to whose prosecuting official the request for final disposition is specifically directed." (Emphasis supplied.)
The evidence, including appellant's testimony, is abundantly clear that the DeKalb indictment was not returned until April 8, 1985, which was over a month after the plea had been entered in Fulton County. Therefore, no indictment upon which trial could be had was pending in DeKalb County, Georgia when appellant was in the State. Moreover, appellant, himself, requested disposition of his case in DeKalb County. "The purpose of the statute is to insure speedy trial on pending charges before staleness and difficulty of proof set in." Suggs v. Hopper, 234 Ga. 242, 243 (215 SE2d 246) (1975). When the second request was filed, the DeKalb County case was dealt with expeditiously and in a manner inoffensive to the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. As appellant received the relief he sought, he has no cause to complain. This enumeration is without merit.
2. In his second enumeration of error, appellant contends the trial court erred in the admission of evidence of three other separate armed robberies. " 'When one is on trial charged with the commission of a crime, proof of a distinct, independent, and separate offense is never admissible, unless there is some logical connection between the two, from which it can be said that proof of the one tends to establish the other.' [Cit.] 'Once the identity of the accused as the perpetrator of the offense separate and distinct from the one for which he is on trial has been proven, testimony concerning the independent crime may be admitted for the purpose of showing identity, motive, plan, scheme, bent of mind, and course of conduct. [Cits.]' " Wright v. State, 165 Ga. App. 790 (3) (302 SE2d 706) (1983). (Emphasis supplied.)
The evidence in the case sub judice shows that on September 18, 1984 a young woman while exiting her car at the YMCA parking lot on Clairmont Road was approached by appellant who brandished a gun and demanded her car. She complied, and appellant drove away in her vehicle.
The three similar transactions which were admitted against appellant also involved armed robberies committed in close proximity to the crime charged, and all were committed within seven days. The first and second extrinsic crimes introduced at trial were the armed robberies of the same bank located on North Ponce De Leon which is within minutes of the YMCA where the armed robbery of the young woman took place. The first time the bank was robbed was on September 18, 1984, the same day and within ten minutes after the robbery at the YMCA. The description given by the bank employee of the car in which appellant used to flee the bank robbery was identical to the stolen vehicle taken from the parking lot of the YMCA. Also, the bank employee's description of the small handgun used in the bank robbery matched the description of the handgun used in the armed robbery at the YMCA. The bank was robbed again by appellant on September 24, 1984. Appellant pleaded guilty to both of these robberies. The third extrinsic crime introduced was that of an armed robbery of a grocery store located on N. Highland Avenue. That armed robbery was committed on September 14, 1984, four days before the armed robbery at the YMCA. The grocery store is also located within minutes of the YMCA.
"In view of the similarities between the crime charged and the independent crimes, evidence of the latter was admissible to show common motive, plan or scheme." Wright v. State, supra at 791.
Judgment affirmed.
Deen, P. J., concurs. Beasley, J., concurs specially.