Hoffler v. State

739 S.E.2d 362, 292 Ga. 537, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 427, 2013 WL 776591, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 206
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMarch 4, 2013
DocketS13A0100
StatusPublished
Cited by41 cases

This text of 739 S.E.2d 362 (Hoffler v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hoffler v. State, 739 S.E.2d 362, 292 Ga. 537, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 427, 2013 WL 776591, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 206 (Ga. 2013).

Opinion

HINES, Justice.

Robert Hoffler appeals the denial of his motion for new trial, as amended, following his convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the fatal shooting of Quincy Dunlap. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence of his guilt; the method of impeachment of a defense witness; testimony about the contents of a witness’s prior statement; the [538]*538absence of a jury instruction; and the effectiveness of his trial counsel. Finding the challenges to be without merit, we affirm.1

The evidence construed in favor of the verdicts showed the following. On July 8, 2006, Robert Hoffler shot and killed Quincy Dunlap on Joyce Street in Atlanta. Dunlap had been living in an apartment with his sometime girlfriend, Phillis Worthy. On July 6 or 7, 2006, Dunlap moved out of the apartment at Worthy’s request because he had not paid the rent but instead spent the money on drugs. Worthy contacted Hoffler who helped her pay the rent and then moved into Worthy’s apartment, bringing several bags of belongings with him. On July 7, 2006, Hoffler and Worthy drank beer outside the apartment and went to sleep in Worthy’s room. Also, on July 7, 2006, Dunlap went to the home of his friend Orlando Robinson, and there spoke with Fred Vandiver about his break-up with Worthy; Dunlap and Vandiver spent the day getting high on crack cocaine. Dunlap left about 2:00 a.m. on July 8; he still had keys to Worthy’s apartment, entered and took her purse with her “I.D.” and Hoffler’s duffle bag. Later that day, Worthy and Hoffler noticed that the items were missing.

Earlier on the day of the fatal shooting, Dunlap and Hoffler got into an argument, and Dunlap allegedly pulled out a knife. When Hoffler saw the knife, he backed away, and no physical fight occurred. After this incident, Hoffler had a friend bring him a handgun. On the evening of July 8, Hoffler took the handgun with him to Joyce Street to look for Dunlap, who Hoffler knew often stayed there. Hoffler found Dunlap, and stated, “Where’s my bag? I’ll shoot you. I will shoot your ass.” Dunlap responded, “[I]f you’re going to shoot me, shoot me.” Hoffler then shot Dunlap.

Hoffler returned to Worthy’s apartment, and after Worthy found out about the killing, she asked Hoffler about it and he denied his involvement. Hoffler left and fled to Florida. Hoffler was profiled on [539]*539the television show “America’s Most Wanted,” and he then turned himself in to authorities.

At trial, Hoffler testified that he shot Dunlap in self-defense because Dunlap pulled a knife on him; he claimed'he saw the blade. A closed silver pocket knife was found inside the victim’s pants pocket, and another closed knife was found in a wooded area about eight to ten feet from the victim’s body. Dunlap died from a gunshot wound to the chest. It was determined that the fatal bullet was fired from an “indeterminate or distant range.”

1. Hoffler contends that there was insufficient evidence to support the verdicts because the State was unable to present any evidence to disprove the earlier incident between himself and Dunlap or to present sufficient evidence to disprove that he acted in self-defense when he shot Dunlap.

In this Court’s review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a criminal conviction, this Court does not weigh or evaluate the evidence for itself, or resolve conflicts concerning the evidence; it is to examine the evidence, in a light most favorable to the verdict, and as a whole, to determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Barela v. State, 271 Ga. 169, 171 (517 SE2d 321) (1999). Issues of witness credibility and the existence of justification are for the jury to determine, and it is free to reject a defendant’s claim that he acted in self-defense. White v. State, 287 Ga. 713, 715 (1) (a) (699 SE2d 291) (2010). Here, there was testimony from eyewitnesses to the shooting and forensic evidence which belied the claim that Hoffler acted in self-defense; the jury was authorized to conclude that Hoffler did not act in self-defense. Id. Indeed, the evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude that Hoffler was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was charged and convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. Hoffler next contends that the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the impeachment of defense witness Harris in violation of former OCGA § 24-9-84.1,2 in that the State sought to impeach Harris with an alleged conviction which was over ten years old without giving written notice of its intent to do so, without [540]*540presenting a certified copy of the conviction at the time of Harris’s testimony, and without ruling that the probative value of the conviction substantially outweighed its prejudicial effect.

The record reveals that the instance in question occurred when the defense called Harris apparently to testify about the altercation between Hoffler and Dunlap earlier on the day of the murder. On cross-examination, the State asked Harris, “Now, is it true, you have familiarity with the police from a possession of cocaine with intent conviction?,” and he responded, “Yeah.”

Even assuming the failure to comply with former OCGA § 24-9-84.1, any error resulting therefrom must be found to be harmless as the evidence of Hoffler’s guilt was overwhelming. Brinson v. State, 289 Ga. 150, 154 (4) (709 SE2d 789) (2011). As noted, there were eyewitnesses to the murder, and the forensic evidence did not support Hoffler’s claim of self-defense. Also, contrary to Hoffler’s claim, witness Harris was not crucial to the defense as he was not an eyewitness to the shooting, and thus, could not bolster Hoffler’s self-defense claim. Cannon v. State, 288 Ga. 225, 227 (3) (702 SE2d 845) (2010). Finally, there was other evidence before the jury of Harris’s criminal record in that later in his testimony Harris made an unsolicited reference to his “rap sheet.” See State v. Rigdon, 284 Ga. App. 785, 787 (645 SE2d 17) (2007).

3. Citing former OCGA § 24-9-693 and Mincey v. State, 257 Ga. 500 (360 SE2d 578) (1987), Hoffler maintains that the trial court [541]*541committed reversible error in allowing a detective to testify to the contents of a prior statement made by State’s witness Smith to police because the detective had no personal knowledge of the statement. But, the complaint is unavailing.

During Smith’s testimony on direct, the State asked Smith about what Hoffler was wearing when she saw him earlier on the day of the shooting, and she responded that she “forgot.” In order to refresh her recollection, the State showed her a copy of a written statement she had given to police a few days after the shooting in which she had described in some detail the clothing worn by Hoffler. The State successfully argued for admission into evidence of the statement as a prior inconsistent statement. See Taylor v.

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

Related

Tyler Alexander Bass v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2024
JACKSON v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
897 S.E.2d 785 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2024)
Whittaker v. State
891 S.E.2d 849 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2023)
Redding v. State
858 S.E.2d 469 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2021)
Whitehead v. State
842 S.E.2d 816 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2020)
MOORE v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
306 Ga. 500 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2019)
Moore v. Jones
831 S.E.2d 736 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2019)
Strozier v. State
Supreme Court of Georgia, 2019
Rivera v. State
304 Ga. 621 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
Sessions v. State
304 Ga. 343 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
Terrell v. State
304 Ga. 183 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
Robert Hoffler v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2018
Jacobs v. State
303 Ga. 245 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
ANTHONY v. THE STATE (Three Cases)
303 Ga. 399 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
Anthony v. State
811 S.E.2d 399 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2018)
Wilson v. State
804 S.E.2d 54 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2017)
Smith v. State
799 S.E.2d 762 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2017)
Clark v. State
787 S.E.2d 212 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2016)
Carter v. State
785 S.E.2d 532 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2016)
Crayton v. State
784 S.E.2d 343 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
739 S.E.2d 362, 292 Ga. 537, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 427, 2013 WL 776591, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hoffler-v-state-ga-2013.