Anderson v. State
| Decision Date | 11 June 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. A99A0298.,A99A0298. |
| Citation | 238 Ga. App. 866,519 S.E.2d 463 |
| Parties | ANDERSON v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Monique D. Moyse, Decatur, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, for appellee. RUFFIN, Judge.
A jury found Charles Anderson guilty of ten counts of armed robbery, seven counts of aggravated assault, and two counts of kidnapping. Anderson appeals his conviction and the trial court's denial of his motion for new trial, asserting numerous grounds. We affirm.
1. Anderson argues that the evidence was not sufficient to support a conviction as to 11 of the counts against him. On appeal, Anderson no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence, and we view the evidence in the light most favorable to support the verdict. Paul v. State, 231 Ga.App. 528, 499 S.E.2d 914 (1998). Our review is limited to determining whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Williams v. State, 233 Ga.App. 217(1), 504 S.E.2d 53 (1998). We neither determine the credibility of witnesses nor evaluate the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. Paul, supra; Hopkins v. State, 222 Ga.App. 157, 473 S.E.2d 267 (1996).
The evidence showed that Anderson committed a series of robberies in the Buckhead area of Atlanta during a three-month period in the winter of 1994. On January 11, 1994, a large, African-American male with a light complexion who was wearing a brown jacket entered a Heavenly Ham store with a gun drawn and demanded money from Shawn Meade and Marilyn Fillingim, two employees behind the counter. When Meade explained that the money was in the back office, the man went with Meade and Fillingim to the office, where two more employees—Sara Hyatt and Lisa Hanrahan—were counting the day's receipts. The man took the money, ordered the four employees to sit down and wait ten minutes, and then left the store. Although Fillingim did not testify and Hyatt was unable to identify the man, both Meade and Hanrahan positively identified Anderson as the perpetrator and also identified his jacket and gun, which were introduced into evidence.1 According to Hanrahan, Anderson was "very polite, as armed robbers go."
On January 21, 1994, an African-American male with a light skin tone wearing a brown jacket entered the Cup & Saucer gift shop, pointed his gun at customer Paul Cahoon, and demanded money from Cahoon and employee Teresa Hess. Cahoon gave the man—whom he described as "polite"—$65 from his wallet, and Hess handed him money from the cash register. The man then ordered Cahoon and Hess to the back of the store, told them to wait 15 minutes, and left. Although Hess did not testify at trial, Cahoon, who identified Anderson from a pre-trial lineup, testified that Anderson was the man who committed the robbery and that he recognized Anderson's jacket as the one he wore during the robbery.
On January 23, 1994, an African-American man wearing a blue jacket and knit cap approached Donald Waite with a gun while Waite was standing at a Bank South automatic teller machine and told him to withdraw $500. After Waite explained that he did not have that much money in his account, the man snatched the money Waite had already withdrawn from his hand, then ordered Waite to drive away without looking back. Although Waite could not positively identify Anderson in court, Waite's description of the robber and his clothing matched Anderson's appearance and clothing seized from Anderson's apartment. Waite also recognized Anderson's gun as the one used in the robbery. Finally, Waite described the robber's demeanor as initially polite and calm but growing more aggressive as the robbery progressed.
On January 26, 1994, a light-complected African-American male robbed cigarette vendor Bruce Hosch as he emerged from servicing the cigarette machines at a Buckhead bar. The robber pulled a gun on Hosch, ordered him to "give it up," grabbed two bags of money, and directed Hosch to get into his car and drive away. Hosch identified Anderson as the robber during a pre-trial photographic lineup and testified that he was "sure" of his identification.
On January 30, 1994, a tall, husky African-American male robbed Mason Shives at the same Bank South ATM where Donald Waite had been robbed a week earlier. After taking $110 from Shives, the robber asked Shives to withdraw another $100. Shives explained that he was a student and had no more money, after which the man returned some of Shives' money and told Shives to drive away and not look back. Shives identified Anderson as the perpetrator in a pre-trial lineup and again in court, stating that he was "certain" of his identification. Shives also positively identified Anderson's gun as the one used to rob him.
On February 6, 1994, a light-skinned African-American male robbed Richard deMayo at gunpoint at an ATM in DeKalb County, near the Brookhaven area.2 Afterward, the robber ordered deMayo to get into his car and drive away. Instead, deMayo followed the man in his car and used a cell phone to dial 911. DeKalb County police responded and chased the man down MARTA tracks, through a wooded area, and into an apartment complex on Peachtree Road in Fulton County where Andrea Largay was cleaning her car. The man ran toward Largay and demanded her car keys. She threw her keys to the ground and fled to call 911. The man could not start Largay's car, so he jumped into the car of Naomi Matusow, an elderly resident of the complex who was driving by at the time, and told Matusow to drive away. Matusow did as the man ordered and finally persuaded him to exit the car at a nearby intersection.
Matusow, who was too frightened to look at her kidnapper during the incident, could not identify Anderson. However, both de-Mayo and Largay were able to identify Anderson. In addition, Matusow's future husband, who was at the complex that day and saw Anderson's confrontation with Largay, identified Anderson from a pre-trial photographic lineup.
On February 15, 1994, a man approached Gina Crusco, the manager of a Buckhead orthodontic office, as she was walking to the bank to make a deposit and demanded that she give him the deposit envelope. Although Crusco initially tried to ignore the man, she handed him the envelope after he pulled a gun, grabbed her arm, and turned her around. The robber would not let Crusco proceed to the bank but instead ordered her to walk back to her office without turning around. Crusco identified Anderson at a pre-trial hearing as the man who robbed her, and she identified him again at trial, testifying that she had "no doubt" he was the culprit. Crusco also recognized Anderson's hat and jacket as clothing worn by the robber. Furthermore, a building janitor identified Anderson as the man he had seen the day before the robbery lurking about in shrubbery near the orthodontic office.
On February 21, 1994, a large, light-skinned African-American man approached the counter at an Oxford Book Store, showed clerk Tom Corley a gun, and demanded money. The man left after Corley complied, and Corley then called for help over the store's loudspeaker. Corley told employee Greg Halliday what had happened, and Halliday ran after the robber. Halliday caught up with the man outside the store, where he was attempting to rob a customer. The man turned toward Halliday and, gesturing with his gun, told Halliday to go back in the store, which Halliday did. Corley could not identify Anderson, but he testified that Anderson's gun resembled the one used in the robbery. Halliday identified Anderson both at a pre-trial lineup and in court.
On March 18, 1994, a man described as "medium brown" entered Poppy's, a clothing store in Buckhead, showed his gun to sales clerk Joan Bone, and asked for money. Upon learning that Bone did not have the key to the cash register, the man ordered her back to the manager's office, where manager Peggy Horne and employee Kathy Roche were eating lunch. The man ordered all three women to the front of the store, where Horne opened the cash drawer and gave him money. The man left the store after telling the women to go into a dressing room and stay for five minutes. Horne identified Anderson at trial as "definitely the man" who robbed her. Roche did not testify at trial, but Bone identified Anderson as the perpetrator at a pre-trial photographic lineup and again in court.
On March 28, 1994, a man approached Charles Pickett while he was withdrawing money at a First Union ATM in Buckhead, engaged Pickett in conversation, and then demanded the money Pickett had withdrawn. After seeing that the man had a gun, Pickett gave him the money, and the man then asked him to withdraw more. Pickett saw the robber look away and bolted, but fell in the parking lot. Pickett looked up to see the man standing over him with the gun. The man ordered Pickett to return to the teller, but walked away when Pickett screamed for help. Pickett identified Anderson as the robber both at a pre-trial lineup and in court.
On April 3, 1994, Atlanta Police Detective C.M. Long was parked in an unmarked car next to the Bank South ATM where Donald Waite and Mason Shives had been robbed. Long had reviewed the victims' descriptions of the perpetrator in the string of Buckhead robberies, and he was watching the ATM and looking for a man who matched the descriptions. Long saw Anderson approach several pedestrians in the area. Anderson then approached Long's car and offered to sell him a newspaper, at which point Long realized that Anderson matched the descriptions of the robber. Long did a pat-down search of Anderson and found a fake silver handgun with a white pearl handle, then arrested him.
At trial, the State introduced various articles of clothing, eyeglasses, and hats that were found either on Anderson's person or at his residence and that matched the victims'...
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