Abston v. State

• Decision Date: 10 September 2012
• Docket Number: No. S12A0877.,S12A0877.
• Citation: 732 S.E.2d 50,291 Ga. 531
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court
• Parties: ABSTON v. The STATE.

291 Ga. 531

732 S.E.2d 50

ABSTON

v.The STATE.

No. S12A0877.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Sept. 10, 2012.

Steven Lee Sparger, Savannah, Georgia, for Appellant.

Larry Chisolm, Dist. Atty., Frank M. Pennington II, Asst. Dist. Atty., Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Samuel S. Olens, Atty. Gen., Katherine Lee Iannuzzi, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Appellee.

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice.

Following a jury trial, appellant Steven Wayne Abston was convicted of malice murder and possession of a knife during the commission of certain crimes in connection with the stabbing death of his father, Jeffrey Abston. Abston appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial,¹ arguing that the circumstantial evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support his convictions. Discerning no error, we affirm.

The evidence at trial shows that Abston was staying with the victim at the time of the crimes. The victim suffered from tuberculosis, and an employee of the Chatham County Health Department made house calls to deliver medicine to him. After August 16, 2006, the employee was unable to reach the victim. He stopped by the victim's house on August 17 and on the morning of August 18, but no one answered the door. On the afternoon of August 17, the employee attempted to call the victim, and someone who claimed to be the victim but did not sound like him answered the phone and told the employee not to come to the house because he was about to leave. On August 18, the victim's daughter received an automated phone call from the victim's bank regarding fraud on the victim's account. She called the victim's house, and Abston answered the phone and told her the victim was not at home. The daughter's husband went to the victim's house at approximately 2:00 p.m. but was unable to contact him.

Later that day, Abston went to the other side of the duplex in which the victim lived and told the victim's neighbor that “my father's in the room cut to shreds.” The neighbor called 911 after her fiancé went next door and found the victim's body in a bedroom. The victim had been stabbed or cut 30 to 40 times and strangled. Upon arriving, the police did not see signs of forced entry. They noticed a strong odor when they entered the house and observed a large amount of dried blood next to the mattress where the victim was found. Police searched a garbage can behind the house after a witness informed them that earlier that day, he had seen Abston rolling the garbage can from the front to the back of the house. Among the items recovered were a knife that matched a knife set in the victim's kitchen and the victim's wallet and identification card. The same witness also had observed Abston putting personal belongings into the trunk of his car. In the trunk, police found a pair of boots that were identified as belonging to Abston. There was blood on the soles and a blood droplet on the toe of the right boot. In a closet in the victim's house, police found a pair of size 32 jeans, the size Abston wears, also stained with blood. DNA testing confirmed that the blood on the jeans and boots was the victim's.

In the course of their investigation, the police learned that Abston began spending time with Dominique McGinley on the evening of August 16, 2006. Abston and one of McGinley's friends picked McGinley up and drove her to a hotel, where a group had gathered to smoke crack. When the drugs were gone, McGinley agreed to drive Abston to the victim's house so he could get money to purchase more drugs. When they arrived, McGinley waited in the car while Abston went inside. Abston came back after 15 minutes and told McGinley that it was going to be a while. McGinley waited in the car for approximately two hours. Abston finally came back to the car and told her the money was on the way. When Abston returned the next time, he had money and credit cards.

Later that night, the two returned to the victim's house to continue using drugs. At no point did McGinley see the victim. Abston told McGinley the victim was very ill and was sleeping. Several times, McGinley thought she heard Abston using a key to unlock the door and going in and out of the victim's room. In the morning, an alarm clock went off in the victim's room, and she heard Abston enter the room and turn it off. On August 17, 2006, Abston and McGinley used the victim's credit card to get money out of various ATMs and to purchase merchandise that could be traded for drugs. Abston also pawned a television and DVD...