Hampton v. State
| Decision Date | 27 March 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. S99A1391.,S99A1391. |
| Citation | 272 Ga. 284,527 S.E.2d 872 |
| Parties | HAMPTON v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Moulton & Massey, John W. Moulton, Conyers, for appellant.
Peter J. Skandalakis, District Attorney, Anne C. Allen, Jeffery W. Hunt, Assistant District Attorneys, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Adam M. Hames, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Kevin Todd Hampton appeals his convictions for two counts of malice murder, one count of armed robbery, one count of possession of a silencer, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, in connection with the deaths of Tommy Anderson and David Shumake. For the reasons that follow, we affirm and remand.1 On January 23, 1996, the bodies of Anderson and Shumake were found in a common grave on property belonging to Mike Haywood. They had been missing for approximately a month.
On the evening of December 17, 1995, Michelle Keiffer, Hampton's roommate, saw Hampton drive his car into their driveway. He removed something from his trunk and a truck pulled into the driveway. Shortly thereafter, Keiffer heard some gunshots, and Hampton later woke her, told her to keep a lookout while he was in the house, and remarked that "when you shoot something in the head that they do flop like a fish." He instructed her to follow him while he drove what Keiffer identified as "Tommy's" truck to Haywood's property. Hampton put a handgun and either a rifle or shotgun in a garage on the property. Hampton told Keiffer to get her boyfriend Graves and tell him "they had a package to get rid of." Keiffer returned to her house, found Graves, and told him Hampton wanted him at Haywood's.
Hampton admitted to Graves that he had murdered Anderson. They moved Anderson's body to the bed of a pickup truck and covered it with a tarp. They then went to Anderson's motel room and searched it. The next day, Hampton and Graves put Anderson's body in a shallow grave on Haywood's property, poured gasoline on it, burned it for approximately 20-30 minutes, and covered it.
On the evening of December 23, 1995, Hampton and Graves were at Haywood's home with several others. Hampton spoke with Shumake and Haywood in Haywood's bedroom; Hampton had previously told Graves that he wanted to kill Shumake. Hampton asked Haywood where Haywood's pistol was; Hampton had made a silencer for the weapon. Hampton demonstrated the silencer's effectiveness to Shumake by firing the pistol into a telephone book. While Haywood was looking in another direction, he heard two muffled shots. He turned around and saw Shumake collapsed on Hampton with blood running down Shumake's face. Hampton then turned to Haywood, who was confined to a wheelchair, and asked: Haywood said no. Hampton recruited Graves to help him get rid of Shumake's body and he and Graves put the body in a long, metal box. The next day, Graves covered the body with lime and, using a backhoe, Hampton and Graves buried the box with the body inside in the same grave as Tommy Anderson's body.
Later, Keiffer told Hampton that she thought Graves was scared, and Hampton stated that he was not sure that he could trust them. Before he was arrested, Hampton told Keiffer that it was not her fault or Graves's fault, and that the police would be looking for him because he was "the one that shot them."
When recovered, both bodies were badly decomposed. Anderson's remains showed skeletal fractures that occurred after death and clotted blood in the larynx and throat, indicating traumatic injury to the neck, which could have been caused by a bullet; no bullet was found in Anderson's body and the skull did not appear to have been penetrated before death. A .22 caliber bullet shot from Haywood's pistol was found inside Shumake's cranial cavity.
1. Hampton contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions. He urges that the testimony of Haywood and Graves cannot be credited because they were as likely to be involved in the crimes as he, and that some of their testimony was inconsistent with the physical evidence, and inconsistent with their prior statements. However, resolving evidentiary conflicts and inconsistencies, and assessing witness credibility, are the province of the factfinder, not this Court. Berry v. State, 268 Ga. 437, 438(1), 490 S.E.2d 389 (1997). The evidence authorized the jury to conclude that Hampton was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Hampton also contends that the evidence required a directed verdict on armed robbery, because it was not shown whether the use of the pistol occurred before Hampton took Anderson's truck, or after. See Miles v. State, 261 Ga. 232, 234(1), 403 S.E.2d 794 (1991). However, the jury was authorized to conclude, in accord with Hampton's own statement to Graves, that Hampton's taking of the truck occurred after Anderson had been shot. See Francis v. State, 266 Ga. 69, 70-71(1), 463 S.E.2d 859 (1995).
2. Hampton contends that the trial court should have ensured that opening statements and closing arguments were recorded. However, there is no requirement that the court take such action, see OCGA § 17-8-5(a), and it does not appear that Hampton ever requested that the reporter record the statements and arguments.
3. There is no fatal variance between the evidence and the allegations of the indictment that Anderson was murdered "with a firearm" and was the victim of armed robbery. While the state of the body prevented any conclusive medical evidence about the cause of death, Keiffer's testimony concerning gunshots, as well as Hampton's own statements to her and Graves, was evidence that the crimes were committed as alleged in the indictment; Hampton even showed Graves where on Anderson's body the bullet entered. See Battles v. State, 262 Ga. 415, 417(5), 420 S.E.2d 303 (1992). There was evidence that Hampton then took Anderson's truck. Further, even if the absence of conclusive medical evidence that Anderson died as a result of a gunshot produced a variance, Hampton was sufficiently informed of the charges against him so as to form his defense, and there was no danger that he could be prosecuted again for the same offenses. Id.
4. The State asked witness Deese: "Did anybody else ask you to get rid of the truck?" Hampton objected that the question called for hearsay, and the court ruled that, under authority of OCGA § 24-3-2, the question was permissible because it sought to explain Deese's conduct of taking parts off Anderson's truck and removing them from Haywood's property. Deese had already testified that Hampton himself asked him to get rid of the truck and its parts.
In Momon v. State, 249 Ga. 865, 867, 294 S.E.2d 482 (1982), this Court stated a rule for applying OCGA § 24-3-2; if the conduct and motives of the actor are relevant to the issues on trial, then information, conversations, letters and replies, and similar evidence known to the actor are admissible to explain the actor's conduct. Hampton was charged with armed robbery by taking Anderson's truck. The disposition of the truck after Hampton took possession of it, and the reasons for that disposition, were relevant to the armed robbery charge, and the court did not err in determining that the question and answer were permissible.
Further, if there was any error in permitting the question, it was harmless. In response, Deese testified that Haywood had stated that he was afraid Hampton would do something to Haywood's stepchildren "if anything come [sic] out of this." Hampton did not object to the answer in any way, and it is highly probable that any error in admitting the response did not contribute to the verdict and was, therefore, harmless. See Brinson v. State, 268 Ga. 227, 229(3), 486 S.E.2d 830 (1997).
5. Hampton contends that the issue of prosecutorial misconduct should be remanded for a factual hearing. But Hampton did not raise any question of prosecutorial misconduct below and has waived appellate review of this issue. See Miller v. State, 267 Ga. 92, 475 S.E.2d 610 (1996).
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Roebuck v. State
...to a person named Roebuck. Resolving evidentiary conflicts and inconsistencies is the province of the fact-finder. Hampton v. State, 272 Ga. 284, 285(1), 527 S.E.2d 872 (2000). Moreover, the print card was admitted into evidence without objection, and the jury could determine for itself whe......
-
Givens v. State
...inconsistencies, and assessing witness credibility, are the province of the factfinder, not this Court. [Cit.]" Hampton v. State, 272 Ga. 284, 285(1), 527 S.E.2d 872 (2000). According to Gardner, the defendant indicated to him that she was tired of being beaten and was frustrated with waiti......
-
Croyle v. State
...the jury on the applicable law[,] and the jury was properly left to apply the law to the facts of the case." Hampton v. State , 272 Ga. 284, 287 (7), 527 S.E.2d 872 (2000). And "we presume that jurors follow the law." Venturino v. State , 306 Ga. 391, 400 (4), 830 S.E.2d 110 (2019). This co......
-
Fairclough v. State
...received exactly what he requested, and he never raised in the trial court the issue of prosecutorial misconduct. Hampton v. State, 272 Ga. 284, 287(5), 527 S.E.2d 872 (2000); Scott v. State, 242 Ga.App. 553, 556(3), 530 S.E.2d 257 (2000); Dukes v. State, 224 Ga.App. 305, 308(3), 480 S.E.2d......