State v. Green

321 Ga. 204
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided March 4, 2025·No. S24G0816·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

321 Ga. 204 FINAL COPY

S24G0816. THE STATE v. GREEN.

LAGRUA, Justice.

Appellee Billy Ray Green was convicted of attempt to entice a child for indecent purposes and other crimes arising from his March 12, 2021 interaction with a 15-year-old female, A. H.1 The Court of Appeals reversed this conviction as unsupported by sufficient evidence pursuant to Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979), and its progeny. See Green v. State, 371 Ga. App. 259, 262-264 (2) (899 SE2d 493) (2024). The

1 Green was also convicted of criminal attempt to commit kidnapping,

criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment, and simple assault, but only the conviction for attempt to entice a child for indecent purposes (“attempted enticement”) is at issue here. This crime is committed “when, with intent to commit [enticement],” a defendant “performs any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of [enticement].” OCGA § 16-4-1. See OCGA § 16-6-5 (a) (“A person commits the offense of enticing a child for indecent purposes when he or she solicits, entices, or takes any child under the age of 16 years to any place whatsoever for the purpose of child molestation or indecent acts.”). The indictment alleged that Green “attempt[ed] to commit the crime of [enticement], in violation of [OCGA § 16-6-5], in that said accused did attempt to entice [A. H.], a child less than 16 years of age, to enter his vehicle for the purpose of committing indecent acts . . . .”

State sought certiorari, arguing that the Court of Appeals misapplied sufficiency standards with respect to this conviction by treating certain evidence (referred to herein as the “CVS evidence”) as not relevant to the issue of Green’s intent. We granted review to consider whether evidence that a defendant made unwanted, sexually suggestive comments to an adult is evidence relevant to whether the defendant’s later solicitation, enticement, or taking of a minor was done “for the purpose of child molestation or indecent acts.” OCGA § 16-6-5 (a). In this case, we answer our certiorari question affirmatively and agree with the State that the CVS evidence is relevant to Green’s intent to entice A. H. Thus, we conclude that it was error for the Court of Appeals to hold otherwise, and that, when properly considered in the context of a sufficiency challenge, the CVS evidence is sufficient on the issue of Green’s intent to uphold the attempted enticement conviction. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals in part and affirm Green’s conviction.

1. Background

(a) The evidence presented at trial showed the following.

Around 5:30 p.m. on March 12, 2021, A. H. was walking her dog in her neighborhood when a car driven by Green pulled up beside her. Green told A. H. that her father, Jamie — whom Green referred to by name — had called and asked for Green to bring A. H. to him. A. H. testified that she did not know or recognize Green, and Jamie testified to the same. Green then opened the passenger side door of his car, reached his arm out toward A. H., and gestured for her to get in. A. H. testified that Green became mad when she declined his request, but that Green did not threaten her, touch her, or say anything to her that was sexual in nature. About this same time, one of A. H.’s neighbors pulled into the neighborhood, and Green “sped off.” A. H. called her father, and then 911. During the 911 call, which was played at Green’s trial, A. H. told the operator that “a guy just tried to kidnap [her],” and she described the perpetrator as a white male in his 50s or 60s with long hair driving a small red car.

Officers with the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office (“BCSO”), including Sgt. William Meeler, responded to A. H.’s location within

minutes.2 BCSO Sgt. Garrett Guest also responded to the 911 call and was a few minutes from A. H.’s location when he spotted a car in a nearby CVS parking lot that matched the description given by A. H. Sgt. Guest pulled into the CVS parking lot and made contact with the driver, who identified himself as Green.3 In their conversation, Green repeatedly said he had been at the CVS “all day,” but also gave Sgt. Guest conflicting versions of his activities that day. A few minutes later, Sgt. Guest entered the CVS to obtain security camera footage and learned from an employee that Green had tried to “lure” female CVS employees into his car earlier that day. When Sgt. Guest walked back outside, he asked Green whether he had talked to any CVS employees that day, and Green affirmed he had asked two “young girls” if they wanted to “hang out.” BCSO officers decided to conduct a showup, and Sgt. Meeler drove A. H. to

2 Sgt. Meeler’s bodycam footage was admitted into evidence, which depicts A. H. describing the perpetrator, his car, and their encounter.

3 Sgt. Guest’s bodycam footage was admitted into evidence, which depicts

his interactions with Green in the CVS parking lot.

the CVS, where she positively identified Green.4 Green was subsequently arrested.5 Evidence specific to Green’s interactions with two CVS employees (the “CVS evidence”) was presented at trial through the testimony of those employees, both of whom were female, aged 39 and 27, respectively.6 Their testimony collectively showed that around lunchtime on March 12, Green entered the CVS, feigned injury, and asked the two employees if they could help him get to his car. Both declined, offering instead to get their manager or call 911. Green insisted that he did not want them to call their manager or

4 A “showup” is “[a] police procedure in which a suspect is shown singly

to a witness for identification, rather than as part of a lineup.” Showup, Black’s Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024).

5 In a later search of Green’s car, two softball bats and a stuffed unicorn

were found inside.

6 The trial court held in a pre-trial order that the CVS evidence was

“admissible as intrinsic evidence because it was necessary to complete the story of the crimes charged in the indictment[,]” and that “the probative value of the [CVS] evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice,” such that the balance was struck in favor of admissibility under OCGA § 24-4-403 (“Rule 403”). This pre-trial order also held the CVS evidence was admissible as extrinsic other acts evidence under OCGA § 24-4-404 (b) (“Rule 404 (b)”), but “at trial, the State stated that it was simply offering the [CVS] evidence as intrinsic evidence and withdrew its request for a jury instruction on other acts evidence.” Green, 371 Ga. App. at 265 (4), n.7.

911, and when they went to do so, Green “bolted” out the door to his car. One of the employees recalled the other suggesting: “I don’t think that man was hurt . . . I think he was just trying to get us out there.”

The 27-year-old employee testified that she left for lunch shortly after this incident and asked her manager to watch her leave because she was “90 percent sure [Green] was still out there.” When she returned around 45 minutes later, Green’s car was still in the CVS parking lot but had been moved into the spot where the employee’s car had previously been. While this employee “thought that was very strange,” she did not interact with Green again, but still asked her manager to watch her leave at the end of her shift that day.

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

State v. Green, 321 Ga. 204 (Ga. 2025).

321 Ga. 204 (State v. Green) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Donald Calandra v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2026
BOSTIC v. THE STATE (Two Cases)
Supreme Court of Georgia, 2025
Billy Ray Green v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2025