Blevins v. State
Decision Date | 29 October 2012 |
Docket Number | No. S12A1469.,S12A1469. |
Citation | 291 Ga. 814,733 S.E.2d 744 |
Parties | BLEVINS v. The STATE. |
Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Lucy Jackson Bell, Thomson, for appellant.
Charles R. Sheppard, Asst. Dist. Atty., Rebecca Ashley Wright, Dist. Atty., Office of the District Attorney, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Samuel S. Olens, Atty. Gen., Brittany Nicole Jones, Asst. Atty. Gen., Department of Law, for appellee.
Paul Franklin Blevins was tried by a Richmond County jury and convicted of the murder of Danny Jones, armed robbery, arson in the first degree, and several misdemeanor traffic offenses. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Blevins appeals, contending only that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his felony convictions. We disagree and affirm the judgment below. 1
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that, early in the afternoon of April 5, 2007, Blevins was seen in the parking lot of a grocery store in south Richmond County. At that time, Blevins appeared to be uninjured, had no visible blood on his clothes or hands, and had what appeared to be beer. Jones, a 62–year old retired educator, lived on a farm behind the grocery store, and he and Blevins were acquainted, Blevins having done work for Jones in the past. Later that afternoon, someone reported a fire at Jones's farm, and when firefighters responded, they found Jones lying in his yard, and his residence on fire.
The firefighters observed that Jones had cuts on the back of his head, that his skull was deformed, and that he was lying in a pool of blood. A bloodstained, two-by-four piece of lumber and a bloodstained fence post subsequently were discovered nearby. Jones died of his injuries, and the medical examiner later determined that the cause of his death was blunt force to the head, resulting in multiple skull fractures and injuries to his brain. The medical examiner also determined that Jones may have been wearing a watch shortly before his death. No watch, however, was found on his body.
Around the time the fire was reported, Blevins appeared at an Augusta pawn shop, where he attempted to pawn two electric saws, a watch, and a shotgun, all of which belonged to Jones. Blevins was noticeably intoxicated, and after he urinated on himself in the pawn shop, he left in a truck, which also belonged to Jones. An employee of the pawn shop took down the license plate number of the truck and reported the incident to law enforcement. Responding to this report, a deputy sheriff soon located Blevins driving the truck. After the deputy saw Blevins fail to maintain his lane, the deputy initiated a traffic stop. In the course of that stop, the deputy noted several open containers of beer in the truck, and he observed that Blevins was intoxicated, had urinated on himself, and had cuts on his hands and blood on his shirt and the outside of his hands. At that point, the deputy arrested Blevins for driving under the influence.
When he was arrested, Blevins was found to be in possession of several items that belonged to Jones, including the watch that Blevins earlier had tried to pawn, some coins, and keys. Traces of Jones's blood were found on the watch, as well as on Blevins's shirt. Blevins agreed to an interview with an investigator, but he was unable to give a satisfactory, exculpatory explanation for his incriminating circumstances. Afterwards, he said to the investigator, “that watch is going to get me the chair, ain't it?”
When a conviction is based solely on circumstantial evidence, like the convictions in this case, the circumstantial evidence must “not only be consistent with the hypothesis of guilt, but [must also] exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused.” OCGA § 24–4–6. See also Merritt v. State, 285 Ga. 778, 779(1), 683 S.E.2d 855 (2009). But not every hypothesis is a reasonable one; the evidence “need not exclude every conceivable inference or hypothesis—only those that are reasonable.” Merritt, 285 Ga. at 779(1), 683 S.E.2d 855 (citations omitted and emphasis in original). A reasonable hypothesis is one raised by the evidence. See Smith v. State, 284 Ga. 304, 306(2), 667 S.E.2d 65 (2008). Whether an alternative hypothesis is reasonable is a question committed principally to the jury that heard the evidence, “and where the jury is authorized to find that the evidence, though circumstantial, was sufficient to exclude every reasonable hypothesis save that of guilt, the appellate court will not disturb that finding, unless the verdict of guilty is unsupportable as a matter of law.” Phillips v. State, 287 Ga. 560, 562(1), 697 S.E.2d 818 (2010) (citations and punctuation omitted).
As to his convictions for murder and armed robbery, Blevins argues that the bloodstained two-by-four and the fence post did not have any fingerprints on them, that no gloves were found, and that there were no marks, cuts, or scrapes on the inside of Blevins's hands when he was arrested. But the State's physical evidence, including Jones's blood on Blevins's shirt, links him to the crimes, and Blevins provides no plausible explanation for the presence of Jones's blood that is consistent with his innocence. See Abston v. State, 291 Ga. 531, 533, 732 S.E.2d 50 (2012). The circumstantial evidence also includes Blevins's unexplained possession of Jones's truck, watch, and other personal property, as well as the fact that Blevins was seen near the victim's residence and farm not long before the crimes were committed, and that Blevins was familiar with the victim and his property. See Phillips, 287 Ga. at 561(1), 697 S.E.2d 818. And Blevins admitted that his possession of Jones's watch might lead to his conviction. The evidence further suggests that the victim's watch was taken from his wrist near the time of his death. See Weston v. State, 276 Ga. 680, 681(1), 580 S.E.2d 204 (2003). Compare Fox v. State, 289 Ga. 34, 36(1)(b), 709 S.E.2d 202 (2011) (...
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