Copeland v. State
| Decision Date | 04 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. A98A1881.,A98A1881. |
| Citation | 235 Ga. App. 682,510 S.E.2d 124 |
| Parties | COPELAND v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Alan Z. Eisenstein, Atlanta, Kendal D. Silas, Konny L. Mitchell, for appellant.
J. Tom Morgan, District Attorney, Jeanne M. Canavan, Robert M. Coker, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellee.
HAROLD R. BANKE, Senior Appellate Judge.
Robert J. Copeland, Jr. was convicted of homicide by vehicle, hit and run, and driving under the influence of alcohol. On appeal, Copeland enumerates three errors.1
The evidence, when viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, showed that Copeland and a co-worker, Richard Brink, left work at about 1:30 p.m. on December 24 and stopped for drinks at a downtown bar. After several hours of drinking, Copeland, driving a red Pontiac Grand Am, dropped Brink and another man off at a bus station.
Eyewitness Joseph Guerin testified that at about 6:30 p.m., while traveling in the extreme right lane he was passed on I-85 north on the left by a red car which then abruptly swerved to the right and slammed into a gray Hyundai Excel that had stopped in the emergency lane. The driver, Michelle Montgomery, had halted so that her passenger could fix a balky window. Her passenger, who was outside the vehicle at the time of impact, was not injured. When Guerin stopped to render aid, Montgomery was unconscious and gasping for air. She later died from massive internal bleeding. Guerin noticed a white male at the scene whose speech was slurred and who appeared dazed. Although Guerin provided police with the man's description, he was unable to identify Copeland in a photographic array.
Another motorist, Irene Briggs, stopped almost immediately and went over to the red car, a Pontiac Grand Am, and found Copeland, still seated behind the steering wheel, dazed, smelling of alcoholic beverages, and in her opinion, drunk. When Briggs asked Copeland if he was alright, he said he was and that he had been driving. A few minutes later, Copeland denied being the driver. According to Briggs, Copeland had red and blurry eyes and slurred speech. Copeland remained at the scene until emergency vehicles began arriving but then walked off in a northerly direction up I-85 toward the next exit, Shallowford Road. Briggs positively identified Copeland from a photographic array. At trial, Briggs testified that Copeland was the man driving the red car "without a shadow of a doubt."
A computer check of the Pontiac Grand Am's tag showed that the vehicle was registered to Copeland, who lived at an address off the Shallowford exit. Within 15 minutes of the collision, Officer Ray Davis was dispatched to Copeland's address and interviewed his roommate, Wesley Doyle. Doyle confirmed that the Pontiac belonged to Copeland and said that he had gone to work that morning and not yet returned. Doyle provided a description of Copeland and agreed to notify police if he heard from Copeland. At about 7:20 p.m., Doyle contacted 911 to report that Copeland had called him from a Shell station at the Shallowford exit on I-85 and asked him for a ride, claiming that his car had been stolen from a bus station in downtown Atlanta.
Officer Davis intercepted Copeland at the service station pay phone. Copeland's face appeared flushed, he was unsteady on his feet and swaying, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, his speech was slurred and he smelled strongly of alcoholic beverages. Copeland claimed that his car had been stolen and that he had hitchhiked to that exit. Copeland denied being involved in the accident and refused to submit to a blood test saying, "I know I have been drinking." Investigators were unable to detect any damage to the steering column or ignition switch or to find any evidence that Copeland's vehicle had been stolen or tampered with. Held:
1. The evidence satisfies the strictures of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Notwithstanding Copeland's claim to the contrary, the evidence was sufficient to establish that he was, in fact, the driver of the car and that he was under the influence of alcohol to the extent that he was a less safe driver. Blackwell v. State, 180 Ga.App. 253, 255(2), 349 S.E.2d 13 (1986).
When last seen by a co-worker with whom he had been drinking, Copeland was driving his own car. No evidence indicated that this vehicle had been stolen or tampered with or that it had been reported stolen. Briggs, who arrived on the crash scene almost immediately, spoke with Copeland while he was still seated behind the wheel and Copeland admitted to her he had been driving. McLarty v. State, 176 Ga.App. 433, 435(2), 336 S.E.2d 273 (1985).
Similarly, the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol. A witness identified Copeland as the driver of the vehicle involved in the fatality. Although denying his involvement in the hit...
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