Haygood v. the State

789 S.E.2d 404, 338 Ga. App. 189, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 452
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 15, 2016
DocketA16A0075
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 789 S.E.2d 404 (Haygood v. the 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
Haygood v. the State, 789 S.E.2d 404, 338 Ga. App. 189, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 452 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

Branch, Judge.

On appeal from his conviction for disorderly conduct and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer, Eric Haygood argues [190]*190that the evidence does not support the verdict and that the trial court erred when it refused his request for a jury instruction as to a person’s right to use proportionate force in resisting an arresting officer’s use of excessive force. We find no error and affirm.1

“On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of innocence.” Reese v. State, 270 Ga. App. 522, 523 (607 SE2d 165) (2004) (citation omitted). We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only 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.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

So viewed, the record shows that at around 3:00 a.m. on December 17, 2009, Haygood’s brother heard Haygood having a “loud conversation” in the bedroom Haygood shared with their elderly father, who suffered from the early stages of dementia. The brother asked Haygood and their father to quiet down so they would not wake up their mother and his teenaged daughter, who were sleeping in the other bedroom. The brother testified that Haygood “got agitated” with him and told him to leave the room and keep out of it. Haygood then went toward the kitchen, followed by their father and their mother, who was now out of bed complaining about the noise. Hay-good’s father told the brother to call the police.

The brother put on a coat and went outside to call 911. He told a dispatcher that Haygood was “high” and was arguing and waking up the whole house. He told the dispatcher that he told Haygood to quiet down and that Haygood then went in the kitchen and got a knife. He also told the dispatcher that no one could go to sleep because they did not feel safe. Haygood and his father both came outside. The brother called 911 a second time and told the dispatcher that the police needed to hurry up and come out because Haygood was standing out in the street “with his hand up under his coat [as if] he had a gun,” acting as if he was “fixing to sho[o]t [their] daddy out in the street right now.”

Officer M. W. reached the residence first, at 4:00 a.m., followed closely by three other officers. Officer M. W. testified that he encoun[191]*191tered Haygood’s brother outside, and the brother told him that Haygood was threatening him and their father and that Haygood went into the kitchen and retrieved a knife and, with the knife in hand, began verbally assaulting their father.

After Officer M. W. spoke with Haygood’s brother outside, he went into the house with Officer R. L. to speak with Haygood and assess the situation. Officers N. M. and A. R. arrived next. Officer M. W. and Officer R. L. testified that Haygood was in the hallway, and they asked to speak with him outside. Haygood first asked why, and they did not give him a reason but reiterated their request. Haygood then responded vehemently that he was not going anywhere and yelled that he was not going to jail. Officer M. W. testified that this response indicated that verbal commands were not enough and the situation was “about to be physical.” Officer R. L. testified that, because Haygood had been causing a confrontation in his parents’ house and they wanted him removed, he had to leave the premises. Officer R. L. testified that, after Haygood said he was not going anywhere, the officers “decided to go hands-on with him.” Officer M. W. testified that he grabbed Haygood, who yanked away and hit Officer R. L. near the shoulder with a closed fist; Officer N. M. also testified that Haygood hit Officer R. L. with a closed fist. Officer R. L. testified somewhat differently that, when they grabbed Haygood, Haygood pulled his arm back and his elbow hit Officer R. L. in the chest.

As the struggle escalated, the officers and Haygood fell through the doorway, into the living room, and onto a coffee table; Haygood landed face-down on the floor with his hands underneath him. Officer N. M. put his knee against Haygood’s back, pinning him to the ground. According to Officer M. W. and Officer R. L., they instructed Haygood to show his hands, but he failed to do so and continued to struggle and curse. As Haygood appeared to reach for a metal dumbbell under a nearby sofa, the officers struck Haygood with their batons. The officers then handcuffed Haygood and searched him; he was not armed.

1. Haygood first contends that there is no evidence to support his convictions for disorderly conduct and misdemeanor obstruction. We disagree.

(a) Disorderly conduct. Under OCGA § 16-11-39 (a) (1), a person commits the offense of disorderly conduct when that person “[a]cts in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby such person is placed in reasonable fear of the safety of such person’s life, limb, or health[.]” The State charged Haygood with “act[ing] in a violent and tumultuous manner towards [his brother and his father,] [192]*192whereby said [persons] were placed in reasonable fear of said person^’] life, limb, and health[,] by using threatening language while reaching under his coat as if he had a weapon[.]”

Although there was no first-person testimony regarding whether Haygood’s conduct placed his father and brother in fear for their safety, we cannot say that there is no evidence that Haygood’s conduct placed them in such fear, given the brother’s statement to the 911 dispatcher that the home’s residents felt unsafe, the fact that the father told the brother to call the police, the urgency of the brother’s request for police assistance, and the other circumstances presented. Notwithstanding his later recantation at trial,2 the brother’s recorded statements to the 911 dispatcher and his statement to the first responding officer (as testified to at trial by that officer) provided some evidence from which the jury could infer that Haygood acted in a “violent and tumultuous” manner by using threatening language toward them while holding a knife. It was for the jury to resolve any conflicts between the brother’s out-of-court statements and his trial testimony Eschena v. State, 203 Ga. App. 621, 622 (3) (417 SE2d 214) (1992). It was also for the jury to decide whether the father’s and brother’s fear was reasonable. See Mayhew v. State, 299 Ga. App. 313, 315-316 (1) (a) (682 SE2d 594) (2009) (evidence supported finding that the victim was placed in reasonable fear for her safety where the defendant followed her around a drug store, yelled in her face, pointed a finger at her, and called her several hateful epithets).

For all these reasons, the evidence supported Haygood’s conviction for disorderly conduct.

(b) Misdemeanor obstruction. The obstruction statute, OCGA § 16-10-24, provides in relevant part:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Brandon Cox v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2026
Javarris Mashod Robinson v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2021
Hines v. Jefferson
338 F. Supp. 3d 1288 (N.D. Georgia, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
789 S.E.2d 404, 338 Ga. App. 189, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haygood-v-the-state-gactapp-2016.