Edwards v. State, S91A0657
| Decision Date | 10 July 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. S91A0657,S91A0657 |
| Citation | 406 S.E.2d 79,261 Ga. 509 |
| Parties | EDWARDS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Frank B. Hester, Hester & Hester, Atlanta, for Edwards.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., A. Thomas Jones, Asst. Dist. Atty., Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Carl P. Greenberg, Asst. Dist. Atty., Atlanta, for State.
Thomas A. Cox, Jr., Atlanta.
Robert Lee Edwards paid James Hannah, Jr., to shoot and kill Tyrone Duffey with a shotgun. Edwards was convicted by a jury of malice murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. 1
1. Edwards' contentions on appeal pertain to the state's evidence of "similar transactions." 2
2. (a) In Mincey v. State, 257 Ga. 500, 505(7), 360 S.E.2d 578 (1987), we stated:
(b) The trial court instructed the jury, at the time the evidence was offered, to limit consideration of the prior assault to whatever it might illustrate as to Edwards' state of mind. The instructions were adequate and correct. See Chastain v. State, 260 Ga. 789, 790(3), 400 S.E.2d 329 (1991).
There was no error.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except SMITH, P.J., and BENHAM, J., who dissent.
Because I disagree with the majority that there is sufficient similarity between Edwards' prior independent crime and the charged crime to warrant the admission of evidence of the former, I must dissent.
As recognized by the majority, evidence of other criminal acts by the defendant is generally inadmissible as it tends to place the defendant's character into evidence. Johnson v. State, 246 Ga. 654, 272 S.E.2d 321 (1980). However, again as recognized by the majority, an exception to the above rule permits the admission of evidence of prior independent crimes committed by the defendant if two conditions are satisfied.
First, there must be evidence that the defendant was in fact the perpetrator of the independent crime. Second, there must be sufficient similarity or connection between the independent crime and the offense charged, that proof of the former tends to prove the latter. [Emphasis supplied.] [French v. State, 237 Ga. 620, 621 (229 SE2d 410) (1976).]
Under the exception to the rule, the evidence of the independent crime is admissible only for the purpose of showing identity, motive, plan, scheme, bent of mind, and course of conduct. Hamilton v. State, 239 Ga. 72, 75, 235 S.E.2d 515 (1977).
A thorough examination of the facts in this case shows that there is no similarity or connection between Edwards' prior conviction for aggravated assault and the offense for which he was being tried, murder. The aggravated assault occurred when Edwards, armed with a handgun, went to Clark's residence to collect a debt. After Clark refused to allow Edwards in the house and Edwards attempted to force the door open, the men exchanged gunfire which resulted in Edwards shooting at the door. Edwards fled the scene and later gave the gun to someone for the purpose of disposal. In the case at bar, appellant was alleged to have given a shotgun to his co-defendant and instructed him to kill Tyrone Duffey, who purportedly had robbed Edwards' drug traps 3 in the past.
The aggravated assault conviction and the murder charge contain many dissimilarities which prevent proof of the former from being proof of the latter. The aggravated assault dealt with the personal use of a handgun for the collection of a debt, and disposal of the handgun. The homicide involved drugs and was the desired result of appellant's plan, in which he supplied the murder weapon, a shotgun, to another in order that the accomplice might do the shooting. Certainly the mere use of a firearm does not make the aggravated assault sufficiently similar to the homicide to warrant the admission of what could only be highly prejudicial evidence.
The majority notes that the trial court instructed the jury to limit its consideration of the evidence concerning the aggravated assault to illustrate appellant's state of mind....
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