Tyner v. State

722 S.E.2d 177, 313 Ga. App. 557, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 242, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 23
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 13, 2012
DocketA11A1520
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 722 S.E.2d 177 (Tyner v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tyner v. State, 722 S.E.2d 177, 313 Ga. App. 557, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 242, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 23 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Dillard, Judge.

Following a jury trial, Gloria Ann Tyner was convicted of one count of felony theft by shoplifting. Tyner appeals her conviction and the denial of her motion for new trial, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and arguing that the trial court erred in allowing a witness to testify as to an ultimate issue of fact; admitting cumulative evidence; denying her request for a continuance to obtain new counsel; sentencing her as a recidivist, pursuant to OCGA § 17-10-7, based on her past shoplifting convictions; improperly expressing its opinion as to the evidence and her guilt; and denying her ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims. For the reasons set forth infra, we affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict,1 the evidence shows that on June 5, 2010, a loss-prevention officer for a large department store in a shopping mall was monitoring the store’s video-surveillance cameras when he observed Tyner approach a display containing designer handbags, examine one of the handbags, and then walk toward the exit. And while the officer found Tyner’s behavior suspicious, no security guard was on duty that day, and therefore, Tyner was not questioned. A few minutes later, Tyner exited the store, and the officer saw her drive away.

On June 12, 2010, only one week after the first incident, the same loss-prevention officer was monitoring the store’s video-surveillance cameras when he once again saw Tyner—whom he recognized because she was wearing the identical clothing she had worn a week earlier—approach the same display of designer handbags. After Tyner examined the display, the officer observed her concealing a handbag under one of the department store’s shopping bags, which she was carrying. This time, a security guard was on duty, and the officer told the guard to stand near the exit to prevent Tyner from leaving. Tyner apparently noticed the security guard, and thus, instead of immediately exiting, she walked around the store’s lingerie section for several minutes before attempting to conceal the handbag under a rack of clothes. She then proceeded toward the store’s exit but was stopped by the security guard, searched, and escorted to the store’s office to await the arrival of police. Thereafter, at the loss-prevention officer’s direction, one of the store’s assistant managers retrieved the bag that Tyner had concealed under the clothing rack, which contained a designer [558]*558handbag and four wallets—the total value of which exceeded $1,000.

Tyner was thereafter indicted on two counts of felony theft by shoplifting, with Count 1 alleging that she stole a purse from the store on June 5, 2010, and Count 2 alleging that she stole a purse and wallets from the store on June 12, 2010. During trial, the loss-prevention officer testified regarding his observation of Tyner’s actions on the subject dates, as well as the value of the stolen merchandise, and the police officer, who was dispatched to the store, testified regarding Tyner’s arrest. At the trial’s conclusion, the jury found Tyner not guilty on Count 1 but guilty on Count 2, and the trial court imposed a sentence of ten years to serve.

Thereafter, Tyner obtained new counsel and filed a motion for a new trial, alleging, inter alia, that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. And after conducting a hearing on the matter, during which Tyner and her trial counsel testified, the trial court denied Tyner’s motion. This appeal follows.

1. Tyner challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her felony shoplifting conviction, arguing that the State failed to prove that any merchandise was actually taken or concealed, given that no merchandise was found on her person, in her bag, or in her car. This contention is without merit.

At the outset, we note that when a criminal conviction is appealed, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence.2 And in evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, “we do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility but only determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt.”3 Accordingly, the jury’s verdict will be upheld “[a]s long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State’s case. . . ,”4

Additionally, OCGA § 16-8-14 (a) (1) provides, in relevant part, that

[a] person commits the offense of theft by shoplifting when he ... , with the intent of appropriating merchandise to his own use without paying for the same or to deprive the owner of possession thereof or of the value thereof, in whole [559]*559or in part,. . . [clonceáis or takes possession of the goods or merchandise of any store or retail establishment.5

And shoplifting is punished “as a misdemeanor if the value of merchandise taken is $300 or less[, but] [t]he offense is a felony if the value of merchandise taken is greater than $300.”6

Here, the evidence showed that Tyner took a purse and four wallets from the department store’s display and concealed the merchandise under a clothing rack after realizing that she was under surveillance and could not exit the store without being stopped and searched by the security guard. Tyner, nevertheless, contends that this evidence is insufficient because no merchandise was found on her person. However, “[wjhether the requisite intent is manifested by the circumstances is a question for the trier of fact, and, on review, this court will not disturb the factual determination unless it is contrary to the evidence and clearly erroneous.”7 And under these circumstances, the evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s finding that Tyner was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of theft by shoplifting.8

2. In the same enumeration of error challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, Tyner contends that the trial court erred in (1) allowing the department store’s loss-prevention officer to improperly narrate while the surveillance video was played for the jury and (2) admitting into evidence still photographs taken from the surveillance footage. We note that Tyner did not specifically enumerate either of these claims of error but instead has improperly used her brief to expand her enumerations of error.9 Nevertheless, Tyner’s claims are wholly without merit.

[560]*560In the trial of this matter, the State played the surveillance tapes that showed Tyner’s actions in the department store on the two dates in question while the loss-prevention officer explained what he thought the tapes depicted during his surveillance. Tyner argues that this testimony constituted improper bolstering, but we disagree. Indeed, the officer’s testimony “did not reflect his personal belief as to the veracity of the evidence, [and therefore,] it constitutes neither improper bolstering nor a statement of opinion upon an ultimate issue of fact for the jury.”10

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
722 S.E.2d 177, 313 Ga. App. 557, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 242, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 23, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tyner-v-state-gactapp-2012.