Collins v. State
| Decision Date | 08 September 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 33879,33879 |
| Citation | 271 S.E.2d 352,246 Ga. 261 |
| Parties | COLLINS v. THE STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Aultman, Moore & Daly, James J. Daly, Jr., Warner Robins, for appellant.
Stephen Pace, Jr., Dist. Atty., Miriam D. Wansley, Asst. Dist. Atty., Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Daryl A. Robinson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
By its order of May 27, 1980, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated this court's judgment in this case as to the death sentence (243 Ga. 291, 253 S.E.2d 729 (1979)) and remanded for further consideration in light of Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420, 100 S.Ct. 1759, 64 L.Ed.2d 398 (1980).
As mandated, this court has reexamined the holding in this case that the evidence supports a reasonable trier of facts in finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellant's murder of the victim was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind." Code Ann. § 27-2534.1 (b)(7).
In Godfrey, the court found that Code Ann. § 27-2534.1 (b)(7) had been unconstitutionally applied. This court finds material differences between Godfrey and the case under review, which distinguish this murder from the murder in Godfrey and from other "ordinary" murders for which the death penalty is not appropriate. The evidence in this case clearly establishes that the victim was not related to the appellant. She was not threatening the appellant nor was she causing any emotional trauma to him. The appellant left the scene and attempted in every manner to avoid prosecution for his crime.
As set out in the original opinion, the autopsy report showed that while the victim had died relatively instantaneously from a massive head injury, she also had been raped and sodomized. The evidence shows she had been sexually abused by appellant and his two codefendants prior to death. See Burger v. State, 245 Ga. 458, 265 S.E.2d 796 (1980); Stevens v. State, 245 Ga. 583, 266 S.E.2d 194 (1980).
Torture occurs when the victim is subjected to serious physical abuse before death. Godfrey v. Georgia, supra. Serious sexual abuse may be found to constitute serious physical abuse, House v. State, 232 Ga. 140, 205 S.E.2d 217 (1974). Hance v. State, 245 Ga. 856, 268 S.E.2d 339 (1980). A defendant who tortures the victim before killing the victim can be found to have a depraved mind. Hance v. State, supra.
Accordingly, this court holds that the present jury was authorized to find, consistently with the United States Supreme Court's holding in Godfrey that, beyond a reasonable doubt, the murder of the victim was of a type universally condemned by civilized society as " 'outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture or depravity of mind.' " See Mulligan v. State, 245 Ga. 881, 268 S.E.2d 351 (1980).
As was noted in Dampier v. State, 245 Ga. 882, 268 S.E.2d 349 (1980), this case is also of the type wherein the sentence of death rests only partially upon Ga.Code Ann. § 27-2534.1 (b)(7). The jury returned a finding of two statutory aggravating circumstances. Code Ann. §§ 27-2534.1 (b)(2) and 27-2534.1 (b)(7). In Godfrey, supra, the Supreme Court of the United States was concerned exclusively with a sentence of death resting only upon Code § 27-2534.1 (b)(7)....
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Collins v. Francis
....... PER CURIAM: . Roger Collins was convicted in the Superior Court of Houston County, Georgia, of rape and murder. He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment for the rape and to death for the murder. After exhausting his state remedies, Collins petitioned the district court to issue a writ of habeas corpus setting aside his convictions and death sentence on several constitutional grounds. The district court denied his petition, and we affirm. . I. . The events leading up to this appeal began on the ......
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Zant v. Stephens
...... . The jury imposed the death penalty. On direct appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. Stephens v. State , 237 Ga. 259, 227 S.E.2d 261, cert. denied, 429 U.S. 986, 97 S.Ct. 508, 50 L.Ed.2d 599 (1976). On the authority of Arnold v. State , 236 Ga. 534, ...State , 246 Ga. 262, 263, 271 S.E.2d 172 (1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 921, 101 S.Ct. 2000, 68 L.Ed.2d 312 (1981); Collins v. State , 246 Ga. 261, 262, 271 S.E.2d 352, 354 (1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1103, 101 S.Ct. 900, 66 L.Ed.2d 829 (1981); Dampier v. State , 245 ......
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State v. Mercer
......458, 265 S.E.2d 796, 800 (1980), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 988, 100 S.Ct. 2975, 64 L.Ed.2d 847 (1980). See also Hamilton v. State, 246 Ga. 264, 271 S.E.2d 173 (1980), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 900, 66 L.Ed.2d 829 (1981); Brooks v. State, 246 Ga. 262, 271 S.E.2d 172 (1980); Collins v. State, 246 Ga. 261, 271 S.E.2d 352 (1980), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 900, 66 L.Ed.2d 829 (1981); Gates v. State, 244 Ga. 587, 261 S.E.2d 349 (1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 938, 100 S.Ct. 1332, 63 L.Ed.2d 772 (1980). But see Elledge v. State, 346 So.2d 998 (Fla.1977); Menendez v. ......
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Justus v. State, 36686
...... Each case must be evaluated on its unique factual circumstances, as there is no simplistic rule that a co-defendant may not be sentenced to death when another co-defendant receives a lesser penalty. Collins . Page 246. v. State, 243 Ga. 291, 253 S.E.2d 729 (1979); McClesky v. State, 245 Ga. 108, 263 S.E.2d 146 (1980). We find material distinctions between appellant's case and the case of the co-defendant. First, the appellant was the actual perpetrator of the murder and rape of the victim, whereas ......