Garmon v. State

732 S.E.2d 289, 317 Ga. App. 634, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 2852, 2012 WL 4075923, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 780
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided September 18, 2012·No. A12A1368·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

McFadden, Judge.

After a jury trial, John Lamar Garmon was convicted of aggravated battery, burglary, and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery. As detailed below, we find that the evidence was sufficient to authorize Garmon’s convictions and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendant, Eddie Dodd. Accordingly, we affirm.

1. Garmon challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. On appeal, “the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” (Citation omitted; emphasis in original.) Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

So viewed, the evidence showed that, early in the morning on July 23,2008, Larry Cleveland awoke to find two men in his bedroom. The men beat Cleveland with their fists and a flashlight. The men also demanded his keys and money. Cleveland fought with the men and chased them out of his house. In doing so, he glimpsed both men’s faces. In the course of the altercation, Cleveland sustained injuries to his head that required numerous stitches and staples and resulted in a scar on his face. At trial, Cleveland identified John Garmon and Eddie Dodd as the two men he had seen in his bedroom.

“The testimony of a single witness is generally sufficient to establish a fact.” OCGA § 24-4-8; accord Wilcox v. State, 310 Ga. App. 382, 384-385 (713 SE2d 468) (2011). So Cleveland’s testimony that Garmon was one of the two men who came into his house, beat him with fists and a flashlight, and demanded his keys and money authorized the jury to find Garmon guilty of burglary, aggravated battery, and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery. See OCGA §§ 16-4-1 (a person commits criminal attempt when, with intent to commit a specific crime, he performs an act constituting a substantial step toward the crime’s commission); 16-5-24 (a) (a person commits aggravated battery when he maliciously causes another bodily harm by seriously disfiguring the victim’s body); 16-7-1 (b) (a person commits burglary when, without authority and with the intent to commit a felony or theft, he enters another’s dwelling house); 16-8-41 [635] (a) (a person commits armed robbery when, with the intent to commit theft, he takes another’s property from another’s person or immediate presence by use of an offensive weapon). See also Brown v. State, 275 Ga. App. 99, 100-101 (1) (619 SE2d 789) (2005) (evidence that husband struck wife on head with sword, causing wounds that required stitches, was sufficient to authorize conviction for aggravated battery); Livery v. State, 233 Ga. App. 882, 884 (1) (506 SE2d 165) (1998) (an offensive weapon includes an instrumentality that, while not offensive per se, may be found by a jury to be likely to produce death or great bodily injury depending on the manner and means of its use). Although Garmon challenges the credibility of Cleveland and other trial witnesses who corroborated Cleveland’s testimony, on appeal we do not judge witness credibility and “[t]he resolution of [any] conflicts in the evidence is entrusted to the jury.” (Citation omitted.) Brown, 275 Ga. App. at 101 (1).

2. Garmon challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendant, Dodd. Where, as here, defendants are jointly indicted for a noncapital felony, they “may be tried jointly or separately in the discretion of the trial court.” OCGA § 17-8-4 (a).

In exercising that discretion, the court must consider the following factors: (1) Will the number of defendants create confusion as to the law and evidence applicable to each? (2) Is there a danger that evidence admissible against one defendant will be considered against the other despite the court’s instructions? (3) Are the defenses of the defendants antagonistic to each other or to each other’s rights?

(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Butler v. State, 290 Ga. 412, 413 (2) (721 SE2d 876) (2012).

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Garmon v. State, 732 S.E.2d 289, 317 Ga. App. 634, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 2852, 2012 WL 4075923, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 780 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012).

732 S.E.2d 289 (Garmon v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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