Campos v. State
| Decision Date | 13 November 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. S00A0775.,S00A0775. |
| Citation | 538 S.E.2d 447,273 Ga. 119 |
| Parties | CAMPOS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Billy M. Grantham, Donalsonville, for appellant.
J. Brown Moseley, District Attorney, Charles M. Stines, Assistant District Attorney, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, W. Swain Wood, Assistant Attorney General, for appellant.
This appeal is from Jose Campos's conviction for murder and possession of a firearm during commission of a crime.1 A police officer responding to a report of a shooting found Mari Lou Elies, age 16, who lived with Campos, lying outside with a gunshot wound to her head and no pulse or other sign of life. When he asked who shot her and where the gun was, Campos, who was kneeling beside her body, replied that she shot herself inside their home and then walked outside and threw the gun before collapsing. A spent shell was found on the bedroom floor of the residence. A neighbor turned in a gun which testing proved to have fired the fatal shot. He testified at trial that he first told the police he had found the gun out of fear he would be charged with a crime, but that in fact Campos had handed him the gun after the shooting. When questioned the next day at the police department, Campos stated that he had been drinking all day on the day of the shooting and had been firing the weapon with which Ms. Elies had been killed; that he went inside to clean and reload the gun, then laid it on the bed on which Ms. Elies was lying with her son; that she picked up the gun and it accidentally fired; that he took her and the gun outside seeking help; and that Ms. Elies spoke several sentences after the shooting. Expert testimony indicated that the weapon required eight pounds of pressure on the trigger to fire and had no potential for accidental discharge, and that the wound, which was inflicted from a distance of three or four inches and at an angle that made self-infliction improbable, was instantly fatal. Two witnesses testified to prior difficulties between Campos and Ms. Elies, stating that they had seen wounds on her which she said Campos had inflicted. Campos testified at trial, denying that he had abused Ms. Elies and affirming his prior statement that she shot herself. He claimed that he had run outside and given the gun to someone and never saw it again, and that he then brought out the victim's body because his pleas for help were met with disbelief that a shooting had occurred. He admitted he had been drinking and that Ms. Elies had asked him not to take the gun outside. He repeated his assertion that she was lying on the bed when she shot herself. In rebuttal, police photos were admitted showing that the only blood in the bedroom was found several feet from the bed.
1. The evidence adduced at trial, though circumstantial, was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Campos guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Clark v. State, 271 Ga. 27(1), 518 S.E.2d 117 (1999); Mosely v. State, 269 Ga. 17(1), 495 S.E.2d 9 (1998). 2. The State presented two witnesses at trial who testified that Ms. Elies told them of prior instances of physical abuse by Campos. He contends on appeal that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony under the "necessity exception" to the rule against hearsay.
The two requirements for the admission of hearsay under the "necessity" exception are "necessity" and "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness." [Cit.] In order to satisfy the first requirement, the proponent of the hearsay must show that [Cit.]
Ward v. State, 271 Ga. 648(2), 520 S.E.2d 205 (1999). Campos argues that neither requirement was met with either...
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