Pye v. State

505 S.E.2d 4, 269 Ga. 779
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedSeptember 21, 1998
DocketS98P0612
StatusPublished
Cited by91 cases

This text of 505 S.E.2d 4 (Pye 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
Pye v. State, 505 S.E.2d 4, 269 Ga. 779 (Ga. 1998).

Opinions

Carley, Justice.

A jury found Willie James Pye guilty of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, rape, armed robbery, and burglary. For the murder, the jury recommended a death sentence, finding as four separate statutory aggravating circumstances that Pye had committed that crime while engaged in the commission of the offenses of kid[780]*780napping with bodily injury, rape, armed robbery, and burglary. OCGA § 17-10-30 (b) (2). Pye’s motion for new trial was denied and he appeals.1

Jury Selection

1. Pye contends that the State violated Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79 (106 SC 1712, 90 LE2d 69) (1986) by using four peremptory strikes against black prospective jurors. The record shows that the State gave reasons for these four peremptory strikes, rendering the necessity of a preliminary showing of prima facie discrimination moot. Hernandez v. New York, 500 U. S. 352, 359 (111 SC 1859, 114 LE2d 395) (1991); Lewis v. State, 262 Ga. 679, 680 (2) (424 SE2d 626) (1993). After a hearing, the trial court ruled that Pye did not meet his burden of showing that the State had acted with discriminatory intent. This ruling will be affirmed unless it is clearly erroneous. Turner v. State, 267 Ga. 149, 151 (2) (476 SE2d 252) (1996).

In one instance, the State exercised a peremptory strike because inquiries in the community led the prosecutor to believe that the prospective juror was argumentative and might prevent the return of a unanimous verdict. The State “may rely on information and advice provided by others so long as this input is not predicated upon the race of the prospective juror.” Barnes v. State, 269 Ga. 345, 350 (6) (496 SE2d 674) (1998). See also Lewis v. State, supra at 681 (2). The trial court did not err by accepting the State’s reason for the strike of this juror, because there was no discriminatory intent inherent in the State’s explanation and it was not so implausible as to render the explanation pretextual. See Purkett v. Elem, 514 U. S. 765 (115 SC 1769, 131 LE2d 834) (1995); Jackson v. State, 265 Ga. 897, 898 (2) (463 SE2d 699) (1995).

The prosecutor struck another prospective juror who testified that she was conscientiously opposed to the death penalty and believed that life without parole was a greater deterrent than a death sentence. The prosecutor also stated that his assistant had known this juror for years and believed that she would be unable to vote for imposition of the death penalty. These were valid race-neutral reasons sufficient to justify a peremptory strike. See Tharpe v. State, 262 Ga. 110, 112 (6) (416 SE2d 78) (1992); Barnes v. State, supra. Pye [781]*781complains that the State did not strike white prospective jurors who testified that they believed that life without parole was a greater deterrent than death. The record reveals, however, that these white jurors did not state, as this prospective juror did, that they were also conscientiously opposed to the death penalty.

The prosecutor struck a third prospective juror because she testified that she was conscientiously opposed to the death penalty, even though she later said that she could vote for a death sentence. As previously stated, this is a valid race-neutral reason sufficient to justify a peremptory strike. Tharpe v. State, supra. The prosecutor further stated that this prospective juror’s son was a public defender in Atlanta. This reason is also sufficient to justify a peremptory strike, because the explanation was neither inherently discriminatory nor implausibly pretextual. See Purkett v. Elem, supra; Jackson v. State, supra.

The State struck the fourth prospective juror because he seemed confused by the voir dire questions and repeatedly contradicted himself about his opinion on the deterrent value of a death sentence, his impartiality, and whether he was conscientiously opposed to the death penalty. This explanation is supported by the voir dire transcript and is a valid race-neutral reason. See Purkett v. Elem, supra; Jackson v. State, supra.

In none of the four instances was the trial court’s Batson ruling clearly erroneous. Accordingly, this enumeration of error is without merit.

2. Pye complains that the trial court failed to ask prospective jurors on voir dire whether they would consider mitigating circumstances or would automatically impose a death sentence if Pye was convicted of murder. Because Pye did not request the trial court to ask these questions, he cannot now complain. Durham v. State, 239 Ga. 697, 699 (2) (238 SE2d 334) (1977); Eberheart v. State, 232 Ga. 247, 251 (3) (206 SE2d 12) (1974), vacated in part on other grounds, Coker v. State, 433 U. S. 584 (97 SC 2861, 53 LE2d 982) (1977). Moreover, Pye could have asked the questions himself and, in fact, did so in some instances. Therefore, any error was harmless. Robinson v. State, 238 Ga. 291, 292 (2) (232 SE2d 561) (1977).

3. Pye urges that the trial court conducted an inadequate investigation into the possible misconduct of alternate juror Alvin Yar-brough. The record shows that, after the jury was seated, two jurors informed the trial court that, on the first day of voir dire, Yarbrough had commented that he was the victim’s cousin. The trial court then questioned Yarbrough, who responded that, when he heard the victim’s name announced, he said that he was the victim’s cousin only because they had the same last name. Yarbrough stated that he was not related to the victim and did not know her. The trial court [782]*782allowed Yarbrough to remain an alternate juror, and informed the two concerned jurors that it had ascertained that Yarbrough was not related to the victim. Pye did not object to the investigation conducted by the trial court or request further investigation. Bowens v. State, 217 Ga. App. 283 (457 SE2d 238) (1995). Moreover, any error was harmless because Yarbrough was not needed to replace any regular jurors and, therefore, did not participate in deliberations or influence the verdict. State v. Newsome, 259 Ga. 187, 188 (2) (378 SE2d 125) (1989).

The Guilt-Innocence Phase of Trial

4. The evidence presented at trial authorized the jury to find the following: Pye had been in a sporadic romantic relationship with the victim, Alicia Lynn Yarbrough, but, at the time of her murder, Ms. Yarbrough was living with another man, Charles Puckett. Pye and two companions, Chester Adams and Anthony Freeman, planned to rob Puckett because Pye had heard that Puckett had just collected money from the settlement of a lawsuit. Pye was also angry because Puckett had signed the birth certificate of a child whom Pye claimed as his own.

The three men drove to Griffin in Adams’ car and, in a street transaction, Pye bought a large, distinctive .22 pistol. They then went to a party where a witness observed Pye in possession of the large .22. Just before midnight, the three left the party and drove toward Puckett’s house.

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Bluebook (online)
505 S.E.2d 4, 269 Ga. 779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pye-v-state-ga-1998.