Griffin v. State
| Decision Date | 08 September 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 39988,39988 |
| Citation | 251 Ga. 431,306 S.E.2d 283 |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
| Parties | GRIFFIN v. The STATE. |
M.C. Pritchard, Waycross, for William David Griffin.
Donnie Dixon, Dist. Atty., Waycross, Richard E. Currie, Asst. Dist. Atty., Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Atlanta, Dennis R. Dunne, for the State.
Griffin shot and killed his wife with a handgun. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
On July 1, 1982, Griffin returned from a business trip to his home in Waycross, Georgia. Soon after his arrival, he and his wife left their home to visit a bar. An angry dispute ensued, and they continued to argue as they returned home. As the wife was attempting to unlock an inside door, Griffin walked up behind her with a pistol and leaned over her, placing his hand with the pistol against the door. Griffin's two sons were outside, where they overheard the argument but saw nothing. According to Griffin his wife had become overwrought and threatened to kill herself if he left her; she turned suddenly, reached up and seized his hand; she squeezed his finger which was on the trigger. The gun discharged, sending a projectile into her left temple; she fell forward and struck her head on a table before hitting the floor; Griffin dragged her into the middle of the room and ran onto the porch to call for help. He later told the police that his wife shot herself, and maintained that the shooting was an accident.
One of Griffin's sons testified that he overheard Griffin say immediately before the gunshot, "Watch out for the gun." In their statements to the police, both sons said that they overheard a heated argument, and then saw Griffin come out of the house and remove his pistol from the car just before the shooting.
1. Griffin contends that the verdict is unsupported by the evidence.
Crime laboratory tests failed to reveal any sign of trace metals on the victim's hands, as would be likely had she squeezed Griffin's finger to cause the gun to discharge.
The autopsist testified that the two wounds on the victim's head were not of the type generally caused by a fall, but, in his opinion were consistent with blows inflicted with a revolver. Other testimony established prior acts of violence by Griffin against his wife.
The jury was entitled to reject the testimony of Griffin in favor of the circumstantial evidence. Young v. State, 251 Ga. 153, 303 S.E.2d 431 (1983). The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Griffin guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
2. Griffin contends that the trial court erred in allowing into evidence as a part of the res gestae the statements of Griffin's sons. The statements were made approximately three hours after the shooting. The victim was pronounced dead only shortly theretofore. "[A] trial judge's determination that evidence offered as part of the res gestae is sufficiently informative and reliable as to warrant being considered by the jury will not be disturbed on appeal unless that determination is clearly erroneous." Andrews v. State, 249 Ga. 223, 228, 290 S.E.2d 71 (1982). We find no error here.
3. Griffin contends that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a mistrial after the state failed to provide to him copies of his sons' statements, which he had requested under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10...
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