Home/Court of Appeals of Georgia/Kirkland v. State

Kirkland v. State

234 S.E.2d 133, 141 Ga. App. 664, 1977 Ga. App. LEXIS 2040
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided March 7, 1977·No. 53608·Published·Cited by 42 cases

Opinion

Webb, Judge.

A. E. Kirkland appeals from his conviction of burglary urging two errors in the charge and one error on an evidentiary ruling. 1 All three errors concern an oral confession made by the co-defendant Ingram in Kirkland’s presence which inculpated Kirkland. It is contended that this evidence adversely affected the jury’s determination of his guilt.

We affirm. Even if the confession had been totally excluded, the verdict of guilty was demanded by other evidence. The two inept burglars were caught red-handed stealing television sets from a motel, and the confession added nothing of substance to the state’s case. Accordingly, not only was it "highly probable that the error did not contribute to the judgment” within the contemplation of the newly-announced "highly probable” test (Johnson v. State, 238 Ga. 59, 61 (230 SE2d 869) (1976)), but also any error with respect to it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt (Zinn v. State, 134 Ga. App. 51, 52 (213 SE2d 156) (1975) and cits Robinson v. State, 232 Ga. 123, 128 (4) (205 SE2d 210) (1974)), including any error which might rise to constitutional proportions under Bruton v. United States, 391 U. S. 123 (88 SC 1620, 20 LE2d 476). Cauley v. State, 130 Ga. App. 278, 287 (203 *665 SE2d 239) (1973); Spivey v. State, 138 Ga. App. 298, 301 (226 SE2d 104) (1976).

Argued March 3, 1977 Decided March 7, 1977 Rehearing denied March 22, 1977 Joseph R. Baker, Paul McGee, for appellant. William H. Ison, District Attorney, Clifford A. Sticker, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.

Judgment affirmed.

Deen, P. J., and Marshall, J., concur.
1

For related appeals see Ingram v. State, 137 Ga. App. 412 (224 SE2d 527) (1976); Kirkland v. State, 140 Ga. App. 197 (230 SE2d 347) (1976).

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

Kirkland v. State, 234 S.E.2d 133, 141 Ga. App. 664, 1977 Ga. App. LEXIS 2040 (Ga. Ct. App. 1977).

234 S.E.2d 133 (Kirkland v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Elliott v. State
497 S.E.2d 817 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1998)
In the Interest of D. T. C.
487 S.E.2d 21 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1997)
Parrish v. State
456 S.E.2d 283 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1995)
Kimbrough v. State
450 S.E.2d 457 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1994)
West v. State
444 S.E.2d 398 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1994)
Johnson v. State
435 S.E.2d 458 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1993)
Montgomery v. State
432 S.E.2d 120 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1993)
Stephens v. State
431 S.E.2d 422 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1993)
Mapp v. State
420 S.E.2d 615 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1992)
Baker v. State
416 S.E.2d 295 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1992)
Varner v. State
402 S.E.2d 94 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1991)
Bethune v. State
402 S.E.2d 276 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1991)
Stamey v. State
390 S.E.2d 409 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1990)
Romano v. State
388 S.E.2d 757 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Hill v. State
387 S.E.2d 910 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Powell v. State
386 S.E.2d 54 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Sweet v. State
382 S.E.2d 376 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Floyd v. State
372 S.E.2d 287 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1988)
Smith v. State
362 S.E.2d 384 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1987)
Cook v. State
350 S.E.2d 847 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1986)