Baldwin v. State

Decision Date09 January 1980
Docket NumberNos. 58959-58961,s. 58959-58961
Citation153 Ga.App. 35,264 S.E.2d 528
PartiesBALDWIN v. The STATE. PARKER v. The STATE (two cases).
CourtGeorgia Court of Appeals

Eric N. Welch, Atlanta, for appellant in no. 58959.

Vernon S. Pitts, Jr., Atlanta, for appellant in no. 58960.

Joseph L. Parker, Jr., pro se.

Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Joseph J. Drolet, Savannah L. Potter, Asst. Dist. Attys., for appellee.

BIRDSONG, Judge.

Eric L. Baldwin and Joseph L. Parker were convicted of armed robbery. Baldwin was convicted of two counts, acquitted of one, and sentenced to serve two concurrent terms of twenty years. Parker was convicted of all three counts, and sentenced to serve two concurrent terms of twenty years based upon the two counts for which Baldwin was convicted plus five years, to be served consecutively with the twenty, for the conviction of the third count. Baldwin brings a separate appeal (No. 58959) and Parker brings an appeal through counsel (No. 58960) and pro se (No. 58961). Each of the appeals raises the same enumeration of error, that the evidence does not support the convictions. Because all three appeals arise out of the same facts, we have consolidated the three appeals as one. Held :

The evidence shows that on October 27, three young, slender, black men entered a mercantile (auto parts) store. One asked for change for a five dollar bill. As the change was taken from the cash register, suddenly one of the men demanded the rest of the money at the point of a pistol. The occupants of the store were required to lie down on the floor. Wallets, a gold ring, and a watch were also removed from persons in the store. Thereafter, the manager was required to go to the back office where an additional $1,200 was taken. The three young men then fled. Four days later in the same general area, a furniture store was entered during the late afternoon by three young, slender, black men wearing described clothes. One placed himself close to the front door, one about midway of the sales floor, and the third near the store manager at the desk and phones. This young man pulled a gun and demanded the "money." Apparently all three of the young men displayed guns. The occupants of the store were required to lie down on the floor. Their wallets were taken, one of which contained about $200 in $20 bills. The three young men then fled the store on foot. An immediate report of this burglary was made and the general description and direction of travel of the robbers was communicated. Within a few minutes of the armed robbery, at a point less than a mile from the scene, a police officer in a vehicle observed a young black man fitting the general description of the robbers. This person was standing on the crest of an incline in the Bedford-Pines area which area is composed of empty lots resulting from condemnation in contemplation of public housing. The police officer drove his vehicle up an abandoned driveway to the crest of the incline into a patch of kudzu. The young man had fled upon seeing the police vehicle. Upon arriving at the crest of the incline, the officer, whose vehicle became "stuck," observed three young black men running in a group away from the area across the open fields. The officer radioed the direction of travel and general descriptions of the three men. Other officers converged on the scene. The appellant Baldwin was apprehended lying in bushes in the area but close to a building still in use. A pistol described as being similar to one used in the furniture store robbery was found lying on the ground beneath Baldwin's body as were two credit cards belonging to one of the two robbed occupants of the furniture store. The appellant Parker was apprehended nearby. One of the men while running had been observed wearing a dark jacket. When Parker was placed in a police vehicle after his arrest, a dark jacket was placed on top of the police car. Parker asked the officer at that time not to "forget his jacket." The jacket was secured and a search of its pockets revealed...

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  • Johnson v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • December 5, 1983
    ...manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Baldwin v. State, 153 Ga.App. 35, 264 S.E.2d 528 (1980). Therefore, it follows, based on the general grounds, that the trial court did not err in denying Johnson's motions for di......
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    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • March 19, 1981
    ...for new trial. See Moses v. State, 245 Ga. 180, 181(1), 263 S.E.2d 916; Snell v. State, 246 Ga. 648, 272 S.E.2d 348; Baldwin v. State, 153 Ga.App. 35, 37, 264 S.E.2d 528; Mason v. State, 154 Ga.App. 447, 268 S.E.2d 2. Defendant's remaining enumeration of error is that the trial court erred ......
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    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • March 17, 1993
    ...the judgment is affirmed. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 310, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2784, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Baldwin v. State, 153 Ga.App. 35, 37, 264 S.E.2d 528 (1980). Judgment BIRDSONG, P.J., and BEASLEY, J., concur. 1 Campbell was acquitted of the second count, charging burglary of the......
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