Davis v. State

740 S.E.2d 707, 320 Ga. App. 753, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1196, 2013 WL 1189266, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 272
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 25, 2013
DocketA12A2349
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 740 S.E.2d 707 (Davis 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
Davis v. State, 740 S.E.2d 707, 320 Ga. App. 753, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1196, 2013 WL 1189266, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 272 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MILLER, Presiding Judge.

Convicted ofthree counts of aggravated assault (OCGA § 16-5-21 (a) (2)),1 Donald Maurice Davis appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that the trial court erred in not admitting evidence of a juvenile charge pending against one of the victims, in allowing into evidence his custodial statements, and in denying his motion for directed verdict. Finding no error, we affirm.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, and Davis no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. Bryant v. State, 304 Ga. App. 755, 755 (1) [754]*754(697 SE2d 860) (2010). “We do not weigh the evidence or resolve issues of witness credibility, but merely determine whether the evidence was sufficient to find [Davis] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Id.

So viewed, the evidence was that William Marsh and Demonte Jackson were friends who had grown up within blocks of each other in the same DeKalb County neighborhood. Both Marsh and Jackson knew Eddie Trammell, who also grew up there. Christopher Howard was Marsh’s uncle and also lived in the area. Howard, a private investigator, was trained in the use of firearms and was licensed to carry one. Howard knew Jackson because he spent time with Marsh at Howard’s house.

On June 8, 2008, Marsh and Jackson had been hanging out together all day and had been playing video games at the home of Marsh’s cousin, Jamal Banks, that evening. Around 9:30 p.m., Marsh, in his mother’s blue Toyota Corolla, drove Jackson home, and Banks rode along. As they got out of the car at Jackson’s house and began walking up his driveway, they noticed Trammell and a couple of men standing on the corner near the house. Trammell approached Jackson, and a fight ensued between Jackson and Trammell based on a prior disagreement. According to Marsh, Trammell and his associates were “packing guns.” Marsh stepped between Jackson and Trammell. Marsh, Jackson, and Banks then got back in the Corolla and went to a party about a mile from their neighborhood.

Marsh left the party around midnight to drive Jackson home. On the way, Marsh’s cell phone rang, and Jackson answered it to hear Trammell yelling about the fight. Jackson gave Marsh the phone, and the yelling continued. As they were approaching Jackson’s house, a silver Jeep Cherokee pulled adjacent to the driver’s side of the Corolla, and shots were fired from the Jeep into the Corolla, striking Marsh and Jackson. Marsh pulled off, followed by the Jeep, and called Howard to tell him about the situation. Howard told Marsh to drive to his subdivision, pull into the first cul-de-sac, and he would meet them there. Marsh drove into the cul-de-sac, and he and Jackson got out and ran toward Howard’s house, using different routes.

When Howard arrived in his Charger at the cul-de-sac, he saw the Corolla parked with no one in it, and blood on the dashboard and seats. Howard then heard gunfire and saw the Jeep Cherokee coming toward him with gunfire coming out the windows. Howard was struck by at least two shots. As the Jeep approached him, Howard began firing back. Howard saw two people in the front seat and at least one person in the back seat who was firing at him. Howard saw the face of the shooter by the light of a muzzle flash and described him as heavyset, with dreadlocks. During his return fire, Howard was certain [755]*755that he had hit the shooter firing at him. At trial, Howard identified Davis as the shooter and stated that he was “110 percent” certain of his identification. Marsh and Jackson both identified Trammell as the one who shot them.

After the Jeep fled, Howard returned to his home where he found Marsh and Jackson, both wounded. Howard’s wife had called police, and all three victims were transported to a hospital.

Trammell2 drove the Jeep to a nearby Shell station and abandoned it. Officers later found the Jeep with several bullet holes in it and glass missing from the back window. Two cartridge casings were found on the rear passenger floorboard. Davis was picked up by a friend at the Shell station and taken to Southern Regional Hospital.

Quinton Wright, another childhood friend of Davis, testified regarding a similar transaction introduced to show Davis’s course of conduct. Wright testified that, in 2007, he was visiting with his girlfriend, Davis’s sister. Wright was disciplining his girlfriend’s son when Davis objected, and the two men got into a fight. After the girlfriend separated the two, Davis pulled a gun from the back of his pants and pointed it at Wright. Davis left the house when police were called. Later that day, Davis was in a car that pulled alongside Wright’s car, and Davis, sitting in the rear seat, fired at Wright and struck his car twice.

1. Davis’s first enumeration is that the trial court erred “by failing to admit evidence of a juvenile case which was pending against a primary state witness at the time the witness gave his statement to police.” We disagree.

During her cross-examination of victim Jackson, defense counsel advised the trial court that she wished to question Jackson about a “burglary charge that was pending at the time of the fight between [him] and Eddie Trammell.” Defense counsel pointed out that Jackson and Trammell were charged as co-defendants in juvenile court for a burglary that occurred in October 2007. Defense counsel wanted to cross-examine Jackson to show that his relationship with Trammell was strained by the pending charge, and this evidence would go to Jackson’s motive when giving a statement to the police.

When asked by the trial court to respond to the State’s objection that this had no relevance regarding Davis, defense counsel stated:

The case is going to come down to the credibility of the three core witnesses, Marsh, Jackson, and Howard, and although [756]*756Marsh and Jackson have not identified Davis as the shooter, Howard is going to come in here and say that, so their credibility to me is linked. They are all three together. They come to court together. They hang out together all the time, so a dent in one’s credibility, I believe, can apply to the other, and there were omissions left out to the officers. There have been omissions from the stand, and it’s a matter of attacking their credibility.

First, we note that, although the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation secures the right of cross-examination, Davis v. Alaska, 415 U. S. 308, 315 (2) (94 SC 1105, 39 LE2d 347) (1974), the right of cross-examination “is not an absolute right that mandates unlimited questioning by the defense[.]” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Howard v. State, 286 Ga. 222, 225 (2) (686 SE2d 764) (2009). To the contrary, trial courts “retain wide latitude ... to impose reasonable limits on cross-examination based on concerns about, among other things . . . interrogation that is . . . only marginally relevant.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Young v. State, 290 Ga. 441, 444 (5) (721 SE2d 839) (2012); see also Sanders v. State, 290 Ga. 445, 446 (2) (721 SE2d 834) (2012).

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Bluebook (online)
740 S.E.2d 707, 320 Ga. App. 753, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 1196, 2013 WL 1189266, 2013 Ga. App. LEXIS 272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-gactapp-2013.