Leslie v. State

738 S.E.2d 42, 292 Ga. 368, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 182, 2013 WL 398945, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 107
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 4, 2013
DocketS12A1678
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 738 S.E.2d 42 (Leslie 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
Leslie v. State, 738 S.E.2d 42, 292 Ga. 368, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 182, 2013 WL 398945, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 107 (Ga. 2013).

Opinion

BENHAM, Justice.

Appellant Sajid Fitzgerald Leslie was convicted of murder and arson in connection with the death of his former girlfriend Lori Hastings.1 We affirm his convictions for the reasons set forth below.

1. On April 22, 1999, at approximately 11:10 p.m., police were dispatched at the request of firefighters to a parking lot adjacent to a mall in Richmond County, Georgia. Firefighters had found a car with its passenger compartment engulfed in flames. Once the fire was extinguished, authorities determined that a burned body was inside the car. Police recovered jewelry from the body, including a watch that was stopped at 11:00. Through dental records and paperwork related to the vehicle, police identified the body as being that of the victim, Ms. Hastings. The medical examiner testified that the victim was alive when the fire began and that she died from soot and smoke [369]*369inhalation and from thermal burns. A forensic expert testified that the victim’s clothing and components from the vehicle tested positive for the presence of gasoline. Police spoke to appellant because he had dated the victim. During his first interview with authorities on April 25, 1999,2 the police investigator noticed that appellant had injuries to his face and that the skin pigmentation on appellant’s face was discolored. Appellant told police that he had sustained injuries to his face from falling off a motorcycle. Appellant also told the authorities that his face was burned when his carburetor backfired while he was fixing his car. The mother of appellant’s son testified that earlier in the evening of the night the victim was killed, she saw appellant and he did not have any injuries to his face. The victim’s 12-year-old son testified that his mother received a message from appellant on her pager at around 10:00 p.m. on the night of her death and that she left their home stating that she would return in an hour. A fire investigation expert testified that the vehicle fire that killed the victim was intentionally set using gasoline as an accelerant; that the carburetor of appellant’s vehicle did not show any evidence of a backfire; and opined that the injuries to appellant’s face were caused by a flash fire like the one that destroyed the victim’s car and were not caused by backfire from a carburetor. At trial, appellant took the stand and denied that he had killed the victim. Appellant testified that he was at a dog fight at the time in question, but admitted that he could not provide any contact information regarding any persons who could corroborate his alibi.

The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. Appellant alleges the trial court erred when it admitted improper character evidence by (a) allowing testimony concerning a similar-transaction and by (b) allowing testimony concerning appellant’s use of an alias to purchase a pager.

(a) At the time appellant was tried in 2000, similar transaction evidence could be admitted to show the defendant’s bent of mind or course of conduct, and, when proffered for these purposes, requires a lesser degree of similarity than when proffered for the purpose of identity. Holloman v. State, 291 Ga. 338 (6) (729 SE2d 344) (2012); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563 (2) (722 SE2d 765) (2012).3 In cases of [370]*370domestic violence, prior instances of abuse toward sexual partners “are more generally permitted because there is a logical connection between violent acts against two different persons with whom the accused had a similar emotional or intimate attachment. [Cit.]” Hall v. State, 287 Ga. 755 (2) (699 SE2d 321) (2010). We review the trial court’s decision to admit such evidence for an abuse of discretion. Holloman, 291 Ga. at 343; Hall v. State, 287 Ga. at 757.

At the pretrial hearing on the State’s motion to introduce similar transaction evidence, the mother of appellant’s son testified that in 1998, the victim contacted her by telephone to tell her that the victim and appellant were having an intimate relationship. Although appellant had recently moved out of their home and their five-year relationship had ended, the mother of appellant’s son was unaware of the appellant’s relationship with the victim and told the victim as much. The victim put appellant on the phone call, telling him to confirm their relationship, but he became upset and left the conversation. Shortly after the phone call, appellant appeared at the home of his son’s mother. When she would not allow him inside, he broke through the back door and held a gun to her head before leaving with their son. The mother of appellant’s son testified that appellant was angry because she told the victim that she and appellant had lived together. The trial court found that this evidence was “relevant to show bent of mind, the course of conduct, and intent of [appellant]” and was not being introduced for the purpose of showing appellant’s character.

We cannot say the trial court abused its discretion. The evidence revealed a course of conduct in which appellant acted violently toward women with whom he had intimate relationships even after the relationship had ended. Accordingly, this enumerated error cannot be sustained.

(b) At trial, a witness testified that appellant purchased a pager using the alias “Anellerro Dellacrose.” Appellant alleges this testimony constituted improper character evidence because it had the effect of showing the jury that he had a propensity for criminal activity because he bought a pager using a false name. The trial transcript shows that appellant moved for a mistrial regarding this testimony. The State responded that it would show, with the production of other evidence during the course of the trial, that the testimony was not merely to introduce appellant’s character.4 Appellant [371]*371agreed that he would revisit his motion, at a later time, if necessary, and the trial court made no ruling except to say it would allow appellant to raise the issue again. The trial proceeded without any further objection from appellant about this witness’s testimony. Under such circumstances, the issue was not preserved for review. See Jones v. State, 268 Ga. 12 (3) (483 SE2d 871) (1997).

3. At trial, the victim’s ex-husband testified and he denied making a statement to his then girlfriend that he would kill her in the same manner as the victim was killed. Based on this testimony, appellant alleges the trial court erred when it did not allow him to impeach the ex-husband and/or support his theory of defense that someone else committed the crime with evidence of his prior bad acts, namely his conviction for simple battery of the girlfriend and the factual circumstances underlying that conviction. We disagree. At the time of the trial, Georgia’s former Evidence Code provided at OCGA § 24-9-84.1 (a) (3) (2000) that “Evidence that any witness ...

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Bluebook (online)
738 S.E.2d 42, 292 Ga. 368, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 182, 2013 WL 398945, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leslie-v-state-ga-2013.