Brown v. State
| Citation | 259 Ga. 453,383 S.E.2d 882 |
| Decision Date | 29 September 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 47016,47016 |
| Parties | BROWN v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Althea L. Buafo, Gifford and Buafo, Macon, for Valdez Brown.
Willis B. Sparks III, Dist. Atty., Charles H. Weston, Asst. Dist. Atty., Macon, Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Richard C. Litwin, for the State.
Valdez Brown, sixteen years of age and with a below-average intelligence, shot and killed Katrina Brown with a handgun. He was indicted for murder, tried by a jury and found guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. 1
The record shows that Brown and a friend attended a high school football game. When the game was over, Brown and his companion left the stadium and walked along a sidewalk following the victim and several of her friends. Earlier, Brown was heard to say that he was going to shoot at the victim. The victim and her friends crossed to the opposite side of the street, and continued to walk ahead of Brown and his friend. First, Brown fired the pistol into the air, and permitted his friend to do the same. Brown then fired the pistol into the ground, and finally fired a fatal shot into the victim. Brown fled the scene and discarded the pistol. When police investigators went to Brown's home, he was absent. Later Brown, accompanied by his mother, appeared at the police station, was advised of his Miranda rights, and executed a document entitled "Waiver of Counsel by Defendant in Custody." The waiver contained a recitation of the Miranda rights of which Brown already had been advised. Brown's mother remained with him throughout a one hour interview, during which Brown acknowledged firing the shot that struck the victim. He denied any intent to harm her.
1. From the evidence in this case, a rational trier of fact could have found Brown guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
2. (a) Brown contends that his statement was not given freely, voluntarily, and knowingly because he was not advised of his Miranda rights, and because he did not possess the mental capacity to understand them. The trial court conducted a Jackson-Denno hearing at which Brown, his mother, a psychologist, and two police officers testified. The trial court also considered a written report from a psychologist from Central State Hospital. It found that Brown had been advised of his rights; that he understood them; and that his statement was given freely and voluntarily. The trial court went on to observe that Brown's statement was exculpatory, and that if the statement had been the...
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