308 Ga. 176 FINAL COPY
S19A1577. EDWARDS v. THE STATE.
BOGGS, Justice.
Appellant Cornelius Edwards challenges his 2018 convictions
for felony murder and other crimes in connection with an attempted
armed robbery of Delvin Phillips and Marvin Goodman that resulted
in the shooting death of Appellant’s accomplice, Billy Favors.
Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his
convictions and that the trial court failed to fulfill its role as the so-
called “thirteenth juror.” He also asserts that the trial court abused
its discretion in admitting a recording of a recording of a telephone
call. Finally, he claims that the trial court committed reversible
error in admitting other acts evidence. We affirm.1
1 The crimes occurred on December 13, 2016. On June 30, 2017, a Fulton
County grand jury indicted Appellant on three counts of felony murder, one count of attempted armed robbery of Phillips and Goodman, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Phillips, one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Goodman, and one count each of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm 1. (a) Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the
evidence at trial showed the following. On the afternoon of
December 13, 2016, Marvin Goodman asked his friend Delvin
Phillips to pick him up and take him to Appellant’s apartment on
the west side of Atlanta, where Goodman was planning to buy an
ounce or two of marijuana. Goodman knew Appellant because they
were former co-workers. Goodman had been to Appellant’s
apartment at least half a dozen times; Phillips had been there only
once with Goodman. Goodman brought more than $200 in cash for
during the commission of a crime. At a trial from May 14 to 18, 2018, the jury acquitted Appellant of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and the associated felony murder charge but found him guilty of the remaining charges. On May 21, 2018, the trial court sentenced Appellant to serve life in prison for felony murder based on attempted armed robbery, concurrent terms of 20 years each for the two aggravated assaults, and a consecutive term of five years for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime; the guilty verdict for felony murder based on the aggravated assault against Phillips was vacated by operation of law, see Stewart v. State, 299 Ga. 622, 627 (791 SE2d 61) (2016), and the court merged the guilty verdict for attempted armed robbery into the associated felony murder conviction. On May 22, 2018, Appellant filed a motion for new trial, which he amended with new counsel on March 4, 2019. On May 16, 2019, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing, and on June 24, 2019, the court denied Appellant’s motion for new trial. Appellant then filed a timely notice of appeal, and the case was docketed in this Court to the August 2019 term and submitted for decision on the briefs. 2 the marijuana. As soon as Phillips picked up Goodman, Goodman
called Appellant and said that they were on their way.
Shortly before the shooting, Shamika Nix, one of Appellant’s
neighbors, overheard Appellant tell someone on the phone that he
was going to “rob them country n**gers,” and that it was “going to
be easy.” Appellant then went to the apartment directly above his
and spoke to John Sutton, who was in the process of moving out. As
Appellant and Sutton were talking, Billy Favors, Appellant’s best
friend, walked up the back stairs to Sutton’s apartment and knocked
on the door. Sutton let Favors in, and Favors went into the
bathroom. Appellant then asked to use Sutton’s apartment for a
minute or two, explaining that he had some “country n**gers”
coming over, and Sutton agreed to let Appellant use the apartment.
As Sutton was walking out the front door of his apartment,
Appellant said, “John, it ain’t going to be nothing, ain’t nobody going
to get killed.”
Phillips and Goodman soon arrived at Appellant’s apartment
complex. They got out of Phillips’ car and walked towards
3 Appellant’s first-floor apartment, but Appellant met them in the
parking lot and instead led them up the front stairs and into
Sutton’s apartment. About ten seconds after Phillips closed the door
behind them, Favors came out of the bathroom and pointed a gun at
Phillips and Goodman. Goodman put up his hands and started to
say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” but before he got out the third “whoa,”
Favors opened fire on Phillips. Goodman dove into the kitchen as
Phillips, who had been a cavalry scout in the Army, tried to dodge
the gunfire. The first shot only grazed Phillips’ head, but the second
shot struck him near the center of his chest and came out his back,
and Phillips fell to the floor. Favors continued shooting at Phillips,
who rolled around on the floor to avoid being shot again. Phillips
managed to get up, pull out his pistol, and return fire at Favors,
emptying his magazine. One shot struck Favors in the right side of
his chest, passing through his heart and left lung before coming out
his left side. Favors fell facedown on the floor and later was
pronounced dead.
4 When the shooting stopped, Goodman ran out the back door,
down the stairs, and into the street. Phillips ran out the front door
but slipped at the top of the stairs and slid all the way down. Fueled
by adrenaline, Phillips got up again, ran to his car, and drove out of
the apartment complex, stopping only to pick up Goodman in the
street. Appellant ran out the front door of Sutton’s apartment,
yelling that someone shot his “partner.”
Phillips made it about a mile from Appellant’s apartment
complex before passing out and crashing into a telephone pole.
Goodman then called 911. Phillips was taken to the hospital, where
he underwent surgery. Phillips survived and, several days later, was
released from the hospital.
When Favors’ mother heard about the shooting, she went to
Appellant’s apartment complex, where she spoke to responding
officers, including Detective Howard Griffin of the Atlanta Police
Department. As Favors’ mother was talking to Detective Griffin,
Appellant came up to them. Appellant said that Favors told him
shortly before the shooting that Favors was “planning to meet two
5 guys for a play” and asked to use Appellant’s apartment, but
Appellant said no, because his family was in his apartment, and
suggested that Favors use Sutton’s apartment instead. According to
Appellant, he then went into his apartment to check on his family,
and Favors went upstairs. Appellant said that he soon heard
gunshots, ran upstairs to check on Favors, and found him lying in a
pool of blood in Sutton’s apartment.
Within days of the shooting, Appellant called Travis Ridley —
Favors’ cousin — and described what happened inside Sutton’s
apartment when Favors was shot. Ridley used his cell phone to
record Appellant’s call. Five days after the shooting, on December
18, 2016, Detective Griffin spoke with members of Favors’ family,
including Ridley, who played part of his recording of Appellant’s call.
Detective Griffin used a recording device concealed in his front
pocket to record his December 18 interactions with Favors’ family,
including the recording of Appellant’s call played by Ridley.
On December 19, 2016, Detective Griffin interviewed Sutton at
Sutton’s new home, and on January 2, 2017, Detective Griffin met
6 Appellant at a fast food restaurant to discuss the case. Detective
Griffin used the recording device in his front pocket to record his
December 19 interview with Sutton and his January 2 discussion
with Appellant.
At trial, Goodman testified, stating among other things that
about two weeks after the shooting, Appellant called him from an
unknown number, “pleading [Appellant’s] case that it wasn’t his
fault and it wasn’t supposed to happen like that.” Phillips, Nix, and
Sutton also testified at Appellant’s trial, as did Detective Griffin and
the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Favors.
Detective Griffin’s recording of Ridley’s recording of Appellant’s call
was admitted into evidence and played for the jury, as were
Detective Griffin’s recordings of his December 19 interview with
Sutton and his January 2 discussion with Appellant. The State also
introduced, as other acts evidence of Appellant’s intent, testimony
from three witnesses regarding Appellant’s involvement in two
armed robberies that led to his entry of guilty pleas in 2009 to
reduced charges of two counts of theft by taking.
7 At trial, Appellant’s defense theory was that the police rushed
to judgment and conducted a shoddy investigation, and that the
State’s case was built on lies told by people to protect themselves
from potential criminal charges. Appellant did not testify. He called
one witness, Orlando Hammond, who lived at Appellant’s apartment
complex. Hammond testified that about two minutes before the
shooting, he saw two men get out of a car and walk up the front
stairs to Sutton’s apartment. According to Hammond, Appellant was
not outside when the two men got out of the car and was not with
them when they walked up the front stairs to Sutton’s apartment.
On cross-examination, Hammond acknowledged that he had
recently been convicted of aggravated assault against his daughter.
(b) Appellant claims that the evidence was legally
insufficient to support his convictions. However, when viewed in the
light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence presented at trial
and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to
find Appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for
which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319
8 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). See also OCGA § 16-2-20
(defining parties to a crime); State v. Jackson, 287 Ga. 646, 653 (697
SE2d 757) (2010) (holding that defendant may be found guilty of
felony murder of his accomplice if that result was reasonably
foreseeable consequence of their crime); Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32,
33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009) (“It was for the jury to determine the
credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or
inconsistencies in the evidence.” (citation and punctuation omitted)).
(c) Appellant also claims that the trial court erred in failing
to exercise its discretion as the thirteenth juror in reviewing his
motion for new trial under the “general grounds,” which are set out
in OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21.2 “In exercising that discretion, the
trial judge must consider some of the things that she cannot when
assessing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, including any
2 OCGA § 5-5-20 says: “In any case when the verdict of a jury is found
contrary to evidence and the principles of justice and equity, the judge presiding may grant a new trial before another jury.” OCGA § 5-5-21 says: “The presiding judge may exercise a sound discretion in granting or refusing new trials in cases where the verdict may be decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence even though there may appear to be some slight evidence in favor of the finding.” 9 conflicts in the evidence, the credibility of witnesses, and the weight
of the evidence.” White v. State, 293 Ga. 523, 524 (753 SE2d 115)
(2013).
Appellant invoked the general grounds in his motion for new
trial, and he cited OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21 and White both in his
amended new trial motion and at the hearing on the motion. In its
order denying Appellant’s motion, the trial court referred to the
paragraphs of the amended new trial motion containing those
citations and then said:
The evidence is not close or unsatisfactory and the verdict is not contrary to the evidence, nor decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence; nor contrary to the principles of justice and equity. Having considered the credibility of the witnesses and the weight of the other evidence, the Court approves the verdicts and in exercising its discretion as the “thirteenth juror,” determines and holds that this is not a proper case for a new trial on the discretionary grounds.
Contrary to Appellant’s claim, the record shows clearly that the
trial court exercised its discretion under OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21
in denying him a new trial. See Burney v. State, 299 Ga. 813, 815
(792 SE2d 354) (2016). See also Price v. State, 305 Ga. 608, 613 (825
10 SE2d 178) (2019) (explaining that unless record shows otherwise,
this Court presumes trial court properly exercised its discretion as
thirteenth juror). Moreover, to the extent that Appellant is
challenging the merits of the trial court’s decision not to exercise its
discretion to grant him a new trial, we have repeatedly explained
that “this Court does not sit as an arbiter of the general grounds,
which are ‘solely within the discretion of the trial court.’” Wilson v.
State, 302 Ga. 106, 109 (805 SE2d 98) (2017) (citation omitted).
Accordingly, this claim fails. See Strother v. State, 305 Ga. 838, 842-
843 (828 SE2d 327) (2019).
2. Appellant contends that the trial court abused its
discretion in admitting Detective Griffin’s recording of Ridley’s
recording of Appellant’s call. We see no error.
Ridley died in an unrelated incident before Appellant’s trial,
and Ridley’s recording of Appellant’s call could not be located.
Appellant filed a motion to exclude Detective Griffin’s recording on
multiple grounds, and the trial court held a hearing and orally
denied Appellant’s motion. Before Detective Griffin’s recording was
11 admitted into evidence and played for the jury, the court gave the
following limiting instruction:
You all are about to hear a recording, and before you can consider the content of that recording, it must be authenticated by evidence sufficient to support a finding that it is what the State contends it is: a recording of a conversation between two or more persons, one of whom is the accused. There are people talking over that conversation, and there is at least one other party to the conversation. You are not to consider any portion of the recording other than that properly identified as being the voice of the accused for the truth of the matter asserted or as evidence of guilt of the accused.
First, Appellant’s voice on the recording was properly
authenticated. OCGA § 24-9-901 (a) says: “The requirement of
authentication or identification as a condition precedent to
admissibility shall be satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a
finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.”
OCGA § 24-9-901 (b) (5) then says:
By way of illustration only, and not by way of limitation, the following are examples of authentication or identification conforming with the requirements of this Code section: . . . Identification of a voice, whether heard firsthand or through mechanical or electronic transmission or recording, by opinion based upon hearing
12 the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker . . . .
At trial, Goodman and Detective Griffin both testified that they
had listened to the recording that was played for the jury and that
they recognized Appellant’s voice on the recording. Goodman
explained that he was familiar with Appellant’s voice from working
with him, and Detective Griffin said that he was familiar with
Appellant’s voice from in-person conversations with Appellant. This
testimony was sufficient to authenticate Appellant’s voice on the
recording. See Nicholson v. State, 307 Ga. 466, 476 n.6 (837 SE2d
362) (“OCGA § 24-9-901 departs from the former Evidence Code and
is nearly identical to Federal Rule of Evidence 901. Thus, we look to
the federal appellate courts for guidance in interpreting OCGA § 24-
9-901.”); United States v. Vitale, 549 F2d 71, 73 (8th Cir. 1977)
(holding that witness’ testimony that he had spoken with defendant
personally on two occasions and could identify her voice was
sufficient to authenticate defendant’s voice on telephone call).
13 Second, Appellant’s hearsay objection to Detective Griffin’s
recording lacks merit. As Appellant notes, that recording captured,
in addition to Ridley’s recording of Appellant’s call, statements made
by Ridley and Favors’ mother, who were talking over the recording
as Ridley played it for Detective Griffin. But to constitute hearsay,
statements must be “offered in evidence to prove the truth of the
matter asserted.” OCGA § 24-8-801 (c). The trial court explicitly
instructed the jury not to consider any voice on the recording other
than Appellant’s “for the truth of the matter asserted” or as evidence
of Appellant’s guilt, and the statements by Ridley and Favors’
mother were not especially incriminating. See Elkins v. State, 306
Ga. 351, 360 (830 SE2d 217) (2019) (“Qualified jurors under oath are
presumed to follow the instructions of the trial court.” (citation and
punctuation omitted)). And Appellant’s own statements were
admissions by a party-opponent, which are not excludable as
hearsay. See OCGA § 24-8-801 (d) (2) (A) (“Admissions by party-
opponent. Admissions shall not be excluded by the hearsay rule. An
14 admission is a statement offered against a party which is . . . [t]he
party’s own statement . . . .”).
Third, Appellant’s argument that the admission of Detective
Griffin’s recording violated the “rule of completeness” expressed in
OCGA §§ 24-1-106 and 24-8-822 also fails.3 Appellant contends that
Detective Griffin’s recording was incomplete, as Ridley did not play
his entire recording of Appellant’s call for Detective Griffin.
However, the rule of completeness “‘does not make admissible parts
of a statement that are irrelevant to . . . the parts of the statement
introduced into evidence by the opposing party.’” Thompson v. State,
304 Ga. 146, 152 (816 SE2d 646) (2018) (citation and punctuation
omitted). Appellant has not shown that any other parts of Ridley’s
3 OCGA § 24-1-106, which mirrors Federal Rule of Evidence 106, says:
“When a writing or recorded statement or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require the introduction at that time of any other part or any other writing or recorded statement which, in fairness, should be considered contemporaneously with the writing or recorded statement.” In a related vein, OCGA § 24-8-822, which was carried over from the old Evidence Code, says: “When an admission is given in evidence by one party, it shall be the right of the other party to have the whole admission and all the conversation connected therewith admitted into evidence.” See Jackson v. State, 301 Ga. 866, 869 n.3 (804 SE2d 367) (2017) (explaining derivation of OCGA §§ 24-1-106 and 24-8-822).
15 recording of Appellant’s call still exist, much less that the other
parts were relevant to the part that the jury heard.
Fourth, we cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion
in rejecting Appellant’s conclusory assertion that the probative
value of the recording was substantially outweighed by the danger
of unfair prejudice. See OCGA § 24-4-403 (“Rule 403”).4 Appellant’s
description to Ridley of what happened in Sutton’s apartment when
Favors was shot was highly probative, and although it may have
cast Appellant in a prejudicial light, it was not an unfairly
prejudicial light. See Bannister v. State, 306 Ga. 289, 300 (830 SE2d
79) (2019). See also Anglin v. State, 302 Ga. 333, 337 (806 SE2d 573)
(2017) (“[I]n a criminal trial, inculpatory evidence is inherently
prejudicial . . . .”). And as we have said before, the exclusion of
evidence under Rule 403 “is an extraordinary remedy which should
4 OCGA § 24-4-403 says: “Relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” 16 be used only sparingly.” Hood v. State, 299 Ga. 95, 102 (786 SE2d
648) (2016) (citation and punctuation omitted).
3. Finally, Appellant contends that the trial court erred in
admitting the other acts evidence of his involvement in two armed
robberies that led to his entry of guilty pleas in 2009 to reduced
charges of two counts of theft by taking. See OCGA § 24-4-404 (b)
(“Rule 404 (b)”) (“Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts shall not
be admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show
action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for
other purposes, including, but not limited to, proof of . . . intent
. . . .”). Evidence is admissible under Rule 404 (b) only if: (1) the
evidence is relevant to an issue in the case other than the
defendant’s character; (2) the probative value of the evidence is not
substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice; and
(3) there is sufficient proof for a jury to find by a preponderance of
the evidence that the defendant committed the other act. See
Brewner v. State, 302 Ga. 6, 13 (804 SE2d 94) (2017). See also Hood,
299 Ga. at 101-105 (discussing proper application of this three-part
17 test). We review a trial court’s decision to admit other acts evidence
only for abuse of discretion. See id. at 100-101.
We need not decide whether the trial court abused its
discretion in admitting the other acts evidence, because any such
evidentiary error was harmless. See OCGA § 24-1-103 (a) (“Error
shall not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes
evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected . . . .”). “In
determining whether trial court error was harmless, we review the
record de novo, and we weigh the evidence as we would expect
reasonable jurors to have done so as opposed to viewing it all in the
light most favorable to the jury’s verdict.” Peoples v. State, 295 Ga.
44, 55 (757 SE2d 646) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted).
“The test for determining nonconstitutional harmless error is
whether it is highly probable that the error did not contribute to the
verdict.” Id. (citation and punctuation omitted)).
As discussed above in Division 1 (a), the evidence of Appellant’s
guilt aside from the other acts evidence was strong. See Davis v.
State, 301 Ga. 397, 400 (801 SE2d 897) (2017) (pretermitting
18 question of error in admission of other acts evidence where strong
evidence of guilt made any such error harmless). Moreover, both
before the State presented the other acts evidence and again during
the jury charge, the trial court instructed the jury that it could
consider the other acts evidence only for the limited purpose of
showing Appellant’s intent and not for any other purpose, and that
Appellant was on trial only for the offenses charged in this case and
not for any other act. See Howell v. State, 308 Ga. ___, ___ (3) (___
SE2d ___) (2020) (“[T]he trial court gave a limiting instruction to the
jury, which cured any possible unfair prejudice posed by the 404 (b)
evidence.” (citation and punctuation omitted)). In light of the strong
independent evidence of Appellant’s guilt and the trial court’s
thorough instructions limiting the jury’s use of the other acts
evidence, we conclude that it is highly probable that any error in the
admission of the other acts evidence did not contribute to the guilty
verdicts against Appellant.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
19 DECIDED FEBRUARY 28, 2020. Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Whitaker. Kenneth W. Sheppard, for appellant. Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder, Marc A. Mallon, Assistant District Attorneys; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Matthew M. Youn, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.