Dobbs v. State

477 S.E.2d 657, 223 Ga. App. 381, 96 Fulton County D. Rep. 3935, 1996 Ga. App. LEXIS 1173
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 29, 1996
DocketA96A1334
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 477 S.E.2d 657 (Dobbs 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
Dobbs v. State, 477 S.E.2d 657, 223 Ga. App. 381, 96 Fulton County D. Rep. 3935, 1996 Ga. App. LEXIS 1173 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Andrews, Judge.

Felipe Dalton Dobbs appeals his convictions of four counts of burglary and one count of theft by receiving,1 contending that his confession was improperly admitted, denial of his motion to suppress was error, the evidence was insufficient, evidence of an uncharged crime was improperly admitted, and the court exhibited a “prosecutorial manner.”

1. We consider the challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence first. In so doing, we view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, keeping in mind that an appellate court does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determines the legal sufficiency of the evidence under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). Brewer v. State, 219 Ga. App. 16, 17 (1) (463 SE2d 906) (1995).

So viewed, the evidence was that the homes of King (Count 2), Luttrell (Count 3), and Drake (Count 5) were all burglarized between November 18, 1993 and January 4, 1994. Also, on December 29, 1993, a black 1992 GMC pickup truck and a trailer full of lawn equipment were taken from the driveway of Mabry during the night (Count 6). All the homes were located in the same general area near Lawrenceville and Lilburn. Drake’s home had previously been burglarized in 1991 (Count 1).

During the night of September 20, 1991, the Drakes’ Swarthmore Drive home was broken into while they were sleeping. Entry was obtained through the locked back door, although no damage to the door was noted. A camera, Mr. Drake’s wallet containing $1,200 [382]*382cash, his keys and watch, his wife’s and daughter’s purses, and a book bag were taken. All these items were taken from the kitchen/ bar area. When the theft was discovered, the Drakes found the two purses, with all money missing, by the side of their garage, along with the book bag. Nothing else was ever recovered from this burglary.

On January 4, 1994, Ms. Drake’s car window was forced open and her garage door opener removed from the car which was in the driveway. The garage door was opened with the opener and entry made into the house through the locked door into the kitchen. Again, no damage was noted to the door. The family was asleep upstairs and, from the kitchen/bar area, Mr. Drake’s watch, new camera and a GE camcorder, his wife’s and daughter’s purses, and jewelry belonging to him and his wife were taken, along with a set of keys. His ring had the initials “R. D.” engraved in it and the keyring had a picture of him and Ms. Drake on it. The garage door opener was also taken.

On November 18, 1993, on Shannon Way in Lawrenceville, the King home was entered during the night through a living room front window. The screen had been removed and the window was left up. From the kitchen/dining room area, Ms. King’s purse containing her credit cards and checkbook, her cellular phone, a compact disc player and over 300 compact discs were stolen. The keys to her 1993 Dodge Stealth were in her purse and the car was also stolen.

The Luttrell home on Freeman Drive in Lilburn was broken into on December 27, 1993. The garage had been entered through a pedestrian door and there were no signs of forced entry. A 1991 Suzuki 250, partially disassembled, was taken from the garage by rolling it out the pedestrian door. A second motorcycle was also rolled out of the garage, but was left outside.

On December 28, 1993, Mabry woke to find his black 1992 GMC extended cab pickup missing. Attached to the truck was a trailer full of lawn equipment used in Mabry’s landscaping business. The truck had been parked in his driveway and Mabry did not give anyone permission to take the truck. A spare set of keys was kept in the truck cab. There was a pair of pruners in the back seat of the truck. Mabry saw the pickup after it was recovered from Dobbs’ apartment parking lot and the rear window had been broken to gain entry.. His trailer with most of the lawn equipment still on it was retrieved from another apartment complex parking lot near Dobbs’ apartment.

On January 9, 1994, an officer investigating a traffic accident on Jimmy Carter Boulevard discovered that one of the drivers, Marty Apgar, was driving with a suspended license and was wanted on a Walton County warrant for failure to appear. Upon taking Apgar into custody, the officer discovered a small bag in his jacket. The bag contained jewelry, including a woman’s watch, opal ring and earrings, [383]*383and a man’s ring with the initials “R. D.” Also, Apgar was wearing Drake’s watch and Drake’s checkbook was found in his vehicle. Marijuana, along with a pipe and “roaches,” was also found.

Apgar initially stated that the jewelry belonged to his girl friend, but she was called to the scene and denied it was hers. Apgar denied that the larger quantity of marijuana was his or that he knew the checkbook was in the vehicle. He said a friend must have left it, but when asked for the name, requested an attorney. Apgar was charged with theft by receiving2 and identified Dobbs as the one who sold him the jewelry. Apgar had known Dobbs for three or four years and knew he lived at the Sweetwater Glenn Apartments. Apgar said he met Dobbs at a gas station on January 6, 1994 and Dobbs sold him the jewelry for $60 or $75. Dobbs told Apgar it came from a theft. During the two week period before Apgar’s wreck, Dobbs told Apgar he stole a black GMC truck and Apgar saw Dobbs in this truck at Dobbs’ apartment complex. Dobbs also told Apgar that he had taken a red Dodge Stealth, which Apgar also saw at the apartment complex. Apgar and Dobbs rode by a trailer full of equipment and Dobbs asked Apgar if he knew anybody who might want it. Dobbs told him that he had a camcorder and compact discs, and asked him if he knew anybody who might want a good dirt bike. Dobbs told Apgar he was going to keep the camcorder.

Officer Mattox verified that the GMC truck and trailer with equipment were where Apgar said they would be, off Sweetwater Road. Apgar told Mattox that he had seen a GE camcorder in Dobbs’ apartment, told Mattox where Dobbs’ apartment was located and that Dobbs and Cliff were staying there with the tenant’s permission because the tenant was in jail and did not want to lose the apartment. Mattox verified with the apartment management that this was true. Based on this information, Mattox obtained a search warrant for the apartment, stating that there was reáson to believe that the fruits of a crime, i.e., the camcorder, its bag, and instructions, were in the apartment. The warrant was issued on January 20,1994 and executed the same day.

The officers entered the apartment and secured Dobbs, who was running toward the rear of the apartment. Officer Parrish read Dobbs his Miranda rights from her pocket card and sat with him during the search. The officers swept the apartment to make sure there were no other individuals present. While checking a hallway closet, an officer, observed by Mattox, found two sets of keys on top of the water heater. One set had a leather key fob containing a number of [384]*384keys, including two General Motors keys. These keys fit the GMC pickup taken from Mabry. The other set had a picture of victim Drake and his wife on it. Since Mattox was working that case, he recognized the picture. Two garage door openers were found, one in a video recorder bag located in Dobbs’ bedroom. The second one was found in a drawer in that room.

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Related

State v. Henley
630 S.E.2d 911 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
477 S.E.2d 657, 223 Ga. App. 381, 96 Fulton County D. Rep. 3935, 1996 Ga. App. LEXIS 1173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dobbs-v-state-gactapp-1996.