257 S.E.2d 533 (Ga. 1979), 34713, Corn v. Hopper

• Docket Nº: 34713.
• Citation: 257 S.E.2d 533, 244 Ga. 28
• Opinion Judge: BOWLES, Justice.
• Party Name: CORN v. HOPPER.
• Attorney: [244 Ga. 31] Brooks S. Franklin, Atlanta, for appellant. Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., G. Stephen Parker, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
• Case Date: July 02, 1979
• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia

Page 533

257 S.E.2d 533 (Ga. 1979)

244 Ga. 28

CORN

v.

HOPPER.

No. 34713.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

July 2, 1979

Page 534

Argued April 10, 1979.

Rehearing Denied July 17, 1979.

Page 535

[244 Ga. 31] Brooks S. Franklin, Atlanta, for appellant.

Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., G. Stephen Parker, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

BOWLES, Justice.

Appellant Corn was convicted of murder and armed robbery by a Clayton County jury. He was sentenced to death for each offense. The evidence adduced at trial is set forth in Corn v. State, 240 Ga. 130, 240 S.E.2d 694 (1977), wherein this court upheld both of appellant's convictions, but set aside the death sentence for armed robbery.

An application for writ of certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court in May, 1978. Corn v. Georgia, 436 U.S. 914, 98 S.Ct. 2255, 56 L.Ed.2d 415 (1978), reh. den. 438 U.S. 908, 98 S.Ct. 3130, 57 L.Ed.2d 1152 (1978).

A petition for writ of habeas corpus was filed in Tattnall Superior Court in March 1978, and a hearing was held on August 25, 1978. By order dated December 7, 1978, the lower court denied relief to appellant and dissolved a stay of execution. Upon application, this court granted a certificate of probable cause to appeal from the denial of habeas corpus relief. A stay of execution was also granted by this court on January 24, 1979.

Upon careful consideration, we affirm the trial court's denial of habeas corpus relief to appellant, and dissolve the stay of execution.

1. In his first enumeration of error, appellant challenges the admission of certain evidence at his pre-sentence hearing on the ground that it was not probative of circumstances in extenuation, mitigation or aggravation of the crime, and, therefore, his death sentence violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Code Ann. §§ 2-103 and [244 Ga. 29] 27-2503.

The first evidence complained of was testimony of the victim's mother, who testified as to the age and marital status of the victim. She also identified the victim's child who was present in the courtroom. The testimony was very brief and appears to have been unemotional. Appellant did not object to the admission of the evidence at trial.

The evidence complained of is very similar in nature to that approved in Moore v. State, 240 Ga. 807, 243 S.E.2d 1 (1978), where the victim's father...