Black v. State, 42855
| Decision Date | 09 April 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 42855,42855 |
| Citation | 255 Ga. 668,341 S.E.2d 436 |
| Parties | BLACK v. STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Steven H. Sadow, Donald F. Samuel, Garland, Nuckolls & Catts, Atlanta, for Gerald Michael Black, Jr.
Gerald Michael Black, pro se.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Chris Jensen, H. Allen Moye, Asst. Dist. Attys., and Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Atlanta, Eddie Snelling, Jr., Staff Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Gerald Michael Black was convicted by a jury of murder in the shooting death of his girl friend and sentenced to life in prison. He raises issues concerning the sufficiency of the evidence, propriety of the "Allen" charge and the exclusion of evidence of the victim's abuse of drugs. We affirm. 1
The victim was shot and killed in her apartment where the appellant had also been living for several months; she and the appellant were home alone at the time. The issue for the jury at trial was whether Black intentionally shot his girlfriend, as contended by the state, or whether the death was an accident, the basis of his defense.
A neighbor testified that she heard the appellant and the victim arguing violently around 6:00 p.m., followed by twenty minutes of silence and then a gunshot. Shawn Gann testified that the appellant came to his home around 7:00 p.m., saying he had shot and killed his girl friend and needed help disposing of the body. Gann contacted the police and then went with the appellant back to the victim's apartment; the appellant did not know the police had been called and asked Gann about lakes in the area where they could dump the body. In the car he told Gann the gun discharged while he and the victim were struggling to control it.
When they reached the apartment building the appellant went up the stairs and Gann took the elevator. Police officers were already at the scene but did not find the body which was lying on the bed and covered up with clothes. The appellant told the officers that the occupant of the apartment was out of town. As other officers arrived and began another search of the apartment the appellant revealed that the body was hidden on the bed. The victim was partially clothed and had sustained a gunshot wound to the right side of her head.
In his statement to police the appellant stated he had a .38 revolver in the apartment as protection against drug dealers and that his girl friend did not want the gun in her home. He contended they argued about the gun and that she was on the bed threatening to throw the pistol out of the window. As he grabbed the gun from her hands, it accidentally discharged and she fell back on the bed.
The appellant stated he wiped the gun, removed the bullets, and left the apartment throwing the gun in a sewer and the bullets in some bushes. He returned to the apartment to change his shirt before going to Gann's. His testimony at trial was substantially the same. He testified that she grabbed the barrel and it fired as he pulled it away.
The state presented testimony of two assistant medical examiners. Dr. Zaki examined the victim at the scene. He testified she was lying on her side on the bed with an entry wound behind the right eye and an exit wound near the left ear with blood surrounding the area. He and Dr. Hanzlick, also a medical examiner, were both of the opinion that the victim was lying on the bed in the position she was found in when she was shot. These expert opinions were based upon the position of the body, blood patterns, location of brain matter, lack of medical evidence of a struggle and the presence of the bullet which was found entwined in her hair near the exit wound.
Kelly Fite, firearms examiner from the State Crime Lab, testified that in his opinion the muzzle of the gun was approximately five inches from the point of entry when fired. He also testified that the trigger had to be pulled in order for the gun to fire.
The defense presented the expert testimony of Dr. Anderson, medical examiner of Hall County. In his opinion the evidence was consistent with the appellant's contention that the gun discharged during a struggle and the victim then fell back on the bed. He testified that it was unlikely the victim would have already been lying in the position when found because of an awkward hand placement.
1. The appellant argues that the evidence is insufficient as a matter of law in that the state has shown no motive and the circumstantial evidence does not exclude every other hypothesis except guilt. See OCGA § 24-4-6. We do not agree with the contention that the verdict is only supported here by suspicion. When the evidence here is construed in the light of upholding the verdict, a rational trier of fact could have found the crime of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
Under all the facts the jury was authorized to reject the theory of accident. There was evidence of an earlier argument and evidence that Black pulled the trigger. Further, expert testimony supports the state's theory that Black shot the victim while she was lying in bed. In addition, the jury heard evidence of the appellant's disposing of the weapon, concealing the body, and desire to dispose of the body. "The state is required to prove malice, not motive." Humphrey v. State, 252 Ga. 525, 527, 314...
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