Court Opinion

ID: 9584941
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:54:08.016811+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:45.144453
License: Public Domain

Banke, Judge,
dissenting.
While I wholeheartedly agree with the majority’s conclusion in Division 5 that the court erred in allowing the state to prove the results of the private scientific tests, I cannot agree that the error was harmful.
*645The incendiary origin of the fire was not disputed by the appellant and was proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. No fewer than seven witnesses testified that they smelled the odor of paint thinner in the house after the fire, and four witnesses with experience in fire investigation testified that there were “pour trails” or “vapor trails” on the floors and carpets, evidencing the use of a volatile accelerant. A 5-gallon pail with a spout cut into it was found just outside the house after the fire. It contained a small amount of liquid which was described as smelling like paint thinner. An expert in arson investigations testified that the fire had burned horizontally through the house, rather than in the “V”-shaped pattern characteristic of a fire which spreads from a single point. He further stated that the furnace, water heater, wiring, and electrical appliances, which he described as the most common ignition sources for accidental fires, had been ruled out as the source of the fire.
The private tests at issue provided additional evidence that a volatile accelerant had been used to start the fire, but in the face of the other evidence, how could a rational juror have concluded otherwise? Indeed, the appellant conceded under cross-examination that he himself believed someone had burned the house. In Odom v. State, 248 Ga. 434 (3) (283 SE2d 885) (1981), the Supreme Court recently held that a trial court’s alleged error in admitting an autopsy report which the state had not made available to the defense in compliance with Code Ann. § 27-1303 was harmless in the context of circumstantial evidence tending to show the same cause of death. See also Blackmon v. State, 158 Ga. App. 665, 667 (281 SE2d 634) (1981). I do not believe that the admission of the scientific tests at issue here can be characterized as harmful error in the face of this Supreme Court ruling.
The real issue before the jury in this case was not whether the fire was of incendiary origin but whether the appellant was the one who set it. The evidence of guilt in this regard was also overwhelming. The appellant was at the scene when the fire started, at which time, according to his neighbor, he explained that there had been an explosion when he tried to plug in a coffee pot. This explanation conflicted with the testimony of investigators, who stated they found no coffee pot in the house and that the fire was not electrical in origin. The appellant left the scene as the fire engines were approaching and then left town without talking to his wife or to the fire officials. His regular business was selling finishing materials such as varnishes, lacquers and thinners, and he had several 5-gallon containers of thinner stored in a work shed behind the house. Finally, there was evidence that he was in the midst of bitter divorce proceedings and that he had expressed a strong desire to keep his wife from getting his *646house.
In the context of all the evidence presented during the course of this 4-day trial, it is certainly “highly probable” that the testimony concerning the results of the private scientific test did not contribute to the verdict. I believe that it is also “highly probable” that the verdict was unaffected by the court’s error in allowing the witness referred to in Divisions 3 and 4 to bolster his testimony by reference to prior consistent statements. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent to the reversal of the appellant’s conviction. See generally Johnson v. State, 238 Ga. 59 (230 SE2d 869) (1976).
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Deen and Judge Sognier join in this dissent.