Coleman Riley v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedSeptember 10, 2020
DocketA20A1446
StatusPublished

This text of Coleman Riley v. State (Coleman Riley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman Riley v. State, (Ga. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

FIFTH DIVISION REESE, P. J., MARKLE and COLVIN, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

DEADLINES ARE NO LONGER TOLLED IN THIS COURT. ALL FILINGS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITHIN THE TIMES SET BY OUR COURT RULES.

September 9, 2020

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A20A1446. RILEY v. THE STATE. MA-049C

MARKLE, Judge.

Following a jury trial, Coleman Riley was convicted of rape (OCGA § 16-6-1),

and giving false information to a law enforcement officer (OCGA § 16-10-25), and

was sentenced as a recidivist to life imprisonment. He now appeals from the denial

of his motion for new trial, arguing that (1) the trial court erred in (a) sua sponte

granting a new trial at the conclusion of his original trial; (b) not seeking a

competency hearing; and (c) allowing evidence of similar transactions; (2) the

evidence was insufficient to convict him; and (3) he was improperly sentenced as a

recidivist. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm.1

1 This case has taken a lengthy route to this Court. Riley was convicted in 2014, and has had several different attorneys between his arrest, first and second trials, the motion for new trial, and the various amendments to the motion for new trial, before Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, Jackson v.

Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979), the record shows that,

in May 2013, the victim spent the evening at a friend’s house, where she had been

drinking. At some point, she left the house and was walking home when she

encountered Riley, and they started talking. Riley offered the victim a beer, and she

accepted, following him to his rooming house.

Once in Riley’s room, the two began smoking drugs as Riley paced around the

room. He started pulling at the victim’s top expecting sex, saying, “well you done

drunk my beer and smoked my stuff.” The victim told him no and the two started to

“tussle.” The victim scratched Riley along his back and arms, and they both ended up

on the mattress on the floor. During the struggle, the victim threw some condoms at

Riley, which made him angry, and he threw her onto the bed, pinned her down, and

removed her pants. He penetrated her vagina with his penis as the victim told him to

stop. Afterward, Riley said, “I guess you’re going to go back and tell now.”

The victim was able to leave, found someone to help her, and was transported

to the hospital. At the hospital, the victim spoke with police and gave a description

his appeal was docketed in this Court in 2020. Appellate counsel notes that in the interim, Riley’s file has been lost and he has been unable to access certain documents.

2 of her attacker, and she later picked his photograph out of a lineup. The doctor who

examined the victim found abrasions between her vagina and anus, consistent with

the use of force, and noted that the victim stated she had been choked.

Based on the victim’s account, an Atlanta police detective went to the rooming

house where the victim said the attack occurred. There, he encountered a man

matching the victim’s description. When the detective asked the defendant his name,

the defendant responded, “Tony Riley.” The detective ran the name through the

database and found no match. The defendant also gave the detective the names Tony

Davis and Riley Coleman, with different birth dates and social security numbers.

None of these names matched the database. The detective brought the defendant to

the station, where fingerprints identified the defendant as Riley Coleman.

In his interview with police, Riley initially denied knowing the victim, and he

stated he got the scratches on his arm from poison ivy.2 He later admitted that he

knew the victim and that he gave her $10 to buy drugs; they smoked the drugs

together; and then he paid her $5 for sex. He explained that the victim scratched him

when he refused to give her more money. Riley also admitted giving police a false

name when he first encountered the officer at the rooming house.

2 Riley’s interview was admitted into evidence and played for the jury.

3 Based on this attack, Riley was charged with rape and giving false information

to a law enforcement officer. Following a four-day trial, the jury convicted him of

both counts. However, at the conclusion of his initial trial, the trial court realized it

had committed error when it permitted an employee of the district attorney’s office

to sit on the jury. The trial court initially stated that it intended to declare a mistrial,

but later clarified that it could not grant a mistrial after the jury had rendered its

verdict and, instead, sua sponte granted a new trial under OCGA § 5-5-40. The trial

court then stated that the new trial would begin the following Monday, to which trial

counsel responded, “fine.”

At the second trial, the victim again testified to the attack. The State then called

several women whom Riley had attacked in the past, as well as the police officers

who investigated those prior incidents.3 The State also introduced Riley’s prior

conviction for rape and aggravated sodomy, as well as a prior indictment for

aggravated assault and sexual battery. The first victim testified that, in 2012, Riley

grabbed her breasts while she was at his apartment playing cards, and that, when she

3 The State gave proper notice of this evidence. Prior to the testimony, Riley objected to the police officer’s testimony as hearsay, improper bolstering, and cumulative. The trial court overruled the objection, but gave the jury a limiting instruction before the officer testified.

4 tried to leave, Riley grabbed her and placed his hands around her neck. As a result of

this incident, Riley pled guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery.

The second victim testified that, in 1999, Riley grabbed her as she was walking

to the train, offered her money for sex, and, after she agreed, Riley placed both hands

around her neck, pushed her to the ground, and forced her to have sex. The third

victim stated that, in 2004, she met Riley and agreed to smoke crack cocaine with

him, but, as she went with him, he grabbed her around the neck, choked her, pulled

her pants down, and forced her to perform oral sex before penetrating her vaginally.

Riley was still on top of her when police arrived. Riley ultimately pled guilty to

aggravated assault with intent to rape in connection with this attack.

At the close of the second trial, the jury again convicted Riley, and the trial

court sentenced him as a recidivist to life imprisonment for the rape, with a

concurrent 12-month sentence for giving false information to a law enforcement

officer.4

Riley filed a motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred in granting

the mistrial after the verdict in the first trial and ordering a new trial before the

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Beam v. State
400 S.E.2d 327 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1991)
Strong v. State
436 S.E.2d 213 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1993)
Harris v. State
349 S.E.2d 374 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1986)
Phelps v. State
674 S.E.2d 620 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2009)
Johnson v. State
433 S.E.2d 717 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1993)
Flesche v. State
561 S.E.2d 160 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2002)
Traylor v. State
627 S.E.2d 594 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2006)
Holmes v. State
350 S.E.2d 497 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1986)
Sims v. State
614 S.E.2d 73 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2005)
Baker v. State
297 S.E.2d 9 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1982)
State v. Sumlin
637 S.E.2d 36 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2006)
Flanders v. State
496 S.E.2d 344 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1998)
Simpson v. State
517 S.E.2d 830 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)
Powers v. State
725 S.E.2d 848 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2012)
Barstad v. the State
764 S.E.2d 453 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2014)
McCoy v. the State
774 S.E.2d 179 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2015)
Gates v. State
781 S.E.2d 772 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2016)
Edmonson v. the State
785 S.E.2d 563 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2016)
Robinson v. State
791 S.E.2d 13 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
Coleman Riley v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-riley-v-state-gactapp-2020.