Favors v. State

825 S.E.2d 164
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided March 4, 2019·No. S18A1394·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

Bethel, Justice.

Dearies Favors appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial after a jury found him guilty of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the October 2012 death of Demarcus Booker.1 Favors argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting, over Favors' objection, a photograph showing Booker after he had been shot because the photograph was unnecessarily graphic and because it did not accurately depict the crime scene. Additionally, Favors argues that the *166trial court abused its discretion by denying Favors' request to immediately issue a jury charge regarding sympathy when one of the State's witnesses became emotional during his trial testimony. As we find no abuse of discretion in either of the trial court's rulings, we affirm.

1. Construed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence presented at trial showed that, in the early morning hours of October 21, 2012, Favors got into a vehicle owned by Booker at an apartment complex. Booker then drove to another nearby complex, where he and Favors argued. During their argument, Favors demanded money from Booker. Favors later admitted to police that he was upset with Booker for being cut out of "being able to make money." Favors also told police that he was upset because he heard a rumor that Booker had blamed Favors for a recent robbery of someone referred to as "Bodyguard."

Christopher Reese, a friend of Booker's, was on the phone with Booker while Favors was riding in Booker's car. As Reese spoke to Booker, he heard someone talking in the background of the call and then heard a gunshot. Reese heard Booker beg for his life and the other voice demand that Booker give him everything he had on him. Reese then heard the speaker mention "Bodyguard." After hearing a brief exchange between Booker and the speaker, Reese heard several more gunshots. He attempted to talk to Booker, but Booker did not respond. Reese called his wife to inform her that Booker had been shot, and then he called 911 to report the shooting.

At the same time, a witness at the apartment complex heard a car make a loud noise and also heard two people arguing, which prompted him to look out his apartment window down into the parking lot. He could see a vehicle parked below. He watched a man, who was standing on the passenger side of the vehicle, pull out a gun and shoot several times through the open passenger door at the person in the driver's seat. After being shot, the driver's body slumped over the vehicle's steering wheel.

The witness called 911 after hearing the gunshots. The witness then saw the shooter go around the corner of the apartment building but return to the vehicle to retrieve something. He shot the driver an additional time, closed the door to the car, and fled.

Police responded to the scene and found Booker dead in the vehicle. Investigators collected photos and video of the crime scene, which were later introduced at Favors' trial. A GBI forensic pathologist testified that Booker's autopsy showed he had been shot five times and that a gunshot to the back of Booker's head caused his death.

Favors was arrested for Booker's murder. After he was taken into custody, Favors provided a statement to the police in which he admitted to shooting Booker in his car while Booker was on the phone and to taking Booker's money and earrings. Favors was on first-offender probation at the time he shot Booker.

Although Favors does not challenge the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, adhering to this Court's practice in murder cases, we have reviewed the record and conclude that the evidence recounted above was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find Favors guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on each of the counts of which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Favors first argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting, over his objection, a photograph of Booker's body taken at the crime scene that the State introduced in conjunction with the testimony of a crime scene investigator. Favors argues that the photograph did not accurately depict the crime scene at the time of Booker's death because his body was turned from a face-down position to a face-up position before the photograph was taken. Favors also argues that the trial court abused its discretion by not excluding the photograph pursuant to OCGA § 24-4-403.2 He argues that the *167graphic nature of the photograph, which depicted gunshot wounds to Booker's body, unfairly prejudiced him and that such prejudice outweighed the probative value of that evidence to the State's case. We disagree with each of these contentions.

(a) First, we find no basis for excluding the photograph on the ground that it did not depict Booker in the exact physical position in which he was found by the law enforcement officers who responded to the crime scene. This is essentially an objection to the relevance of the photograph. However, Favors has made no showing that the physical appearance of Booker or of his wounds was altered prior to taking the photograph at issue. The photograph was therefore "relevant to show the nature and location of [Booker's] injuries, which corroborated the State's evidence of the circumstances of the killing." Pike v. State , 302 Ga. 795, 800 (3), 809 S.E.2d 756 (2018) (citing Moss v. State , 298 Ga. 613, 617-618 (5) (b), 783 S.E.2d 652 (2016) ). Thus, Favors has not shown that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the photograph over this objection.

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Favors v. State, 825 S.E.2d 164 (Ga. 2019).

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