Allanson v. State

• Decision Date: 19 March 1981
• Docket Number: No. 61690,61690
• Citation: 158 Ga.App. 77,279 S.E.2d 316
• Parties: ALLANSON v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 316

279 S.E.2d 316

158 Ga.App. 77

ALLANSON v. The STATE.

No. 61690.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

March 19, 1981.

Sonja L. Salo, Atlanta, for appellant.

Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Joseph J. Drolet, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

DEEN, Presiding Judge.

1. An extraordinary motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence must show (1) that it came to the defendant's knowledge after the trial; (2) that ignorance of it at the trial was not due to want of diligence; (3) that its presentation would likely result in a different verdict; (4) that it is not merely cumulative; (5) that proper affidavits are present or accounted for, and (6) that it is not merely impeaching. Bell v. State, 227 Ga. 800, 183 S.E.2d 357 (1971); Johnson v. State, 240 Ga. 90(1), 239 S.E.2d 678 (1977). Applications for new trial are in large part addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge. Kitchens v. State, 228 Ga. 624(4), 187 S.E.2d 268 (1972).

2. A special plea of insanity at the time of trial raises the question of whether the defendant is mentally competent at that time to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, whether he comprehends his own condition in reference to them, and whether he is capable of rendering his attorney proper assistance. Brown v. State, 215 Ga. 784(1), 113 S.E.2d 618 (1960). He must, in other words, be aware of the charge, aware of its consequences, and able to communicate with his lawyer. After trial and conviction where a judgment against the plea is being reviewed, the fact that the defendant gives way to emotional outbursts, is suicidal, or considers himself insane is insufficient to demand a reversal of the decision. Strickland v. State, 247 Ga. 219, 275 S.E.2d 29 (1981).

3. The foregoing law must be applied to the facts of this case which are substantially as follows: In July, 1974, less than two months after her marriage, the defendant's husband killed his parents. His conviction was affirmed in Allanson v. State, 235 Ga. 584, 221 S.E.2d 3 (1975). In 1975, the appellant was twice hospitalized, once in April and again in October, on both of which occasions she received some psychiatric care. At that time she was making efforts to have her husband freed. In May, 1977 she was found guilty of attempting in June, 1976, to murder her husband's grandparents, the parents of the deceased father. Allanson v. State, 144 Ga.App. 450, 241 S.E.2d 314 (1978). The evidence on this latter trial showed that the defendant had helped the grandparents prepare codicils to their wills favoring her and her incarcerated husband, had obtained a power of attorney, and, according to evidence offered by the state, had at the same time obtained his notarized signature on a piece of paper over which was written a confession purporting to be by the grandfather to the effect that he had murdered his son and daughter-in-law and that the appellant's husband was innocent. In that case she was convicted on two counts of attempt to commit murder and sentenced accordingly.

The present extraordinary motion for new trial was filed in November, 1980, by an attorney who did not participate in the trial. The motion seeks a new trial based on alleged newly discovered evidence that the defendant was insane at...