Harris v. State, 30086
| Decision Date | 02 September 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 30086,30086 |
| Parties | Esker Mean HARRIS, Jr., et al. v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
K. Reid Berglund, Atlanta, for appellants.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Richard E. Hicks, Asst. Dist. Atty., Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for appellee.
Appellants, Esker Mean Harris, Jr. and Samuel Vickers, were indicted and tried for the offenses of armed robbery and aggravated assault in Fulton Superior Court. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts and penitentiary sentences were imposed upon both defendants. A motion for new trial was overruled in the trial court and the convictions are here for review. We find no reversible error and affirm the trial court.
The errors enumerated on appeal consist of the trial court's failure to grant a new trial and the trial court's instructions to the jury covering the bifurcated trial procedure in certain felony cases and the law relating to flight.
At the trial, R. V. McDaniel, the owner of the Wagonmaster Tavern on Moreland Avenue in Atlanta, testified that around 1:15 a.m. on February 22, 1974, three armed black men wearing ski masks entered the tavern and proceeded to rob the cash register. Two of the robbers had pistols and they pointed one of them at the head of the bar maid and dragged her across the floor as they attempted to leave the tavern. The third robber was armed with a rifle and he opened fire with it, spraying the tavern and wounding the owner in his right arm. The owner returned his fire shooting the robber and he was found dead lying on the sidewalk outside the tavern. The other two robbers fled and escaped the scene.
The owner of the tavern also testified that about 25 minutes prior to the robbery three black males entered the tavern. The tavern proprietor recognized the dead robber as one of these three black men who had entered the tavern prior to the robbery. In addition, the tavern owner, McDaniel, testified that about nine days after the robbery he saw appellant Vickers at a liquor store near the tavern and noted Vickers' automobile tag number with the last three numbers ending 3-1-6 on a 1965 or 1966 Oldmobile. McDaniel gave this information to the police and subsequently identified appellant Vickers at a lineup as one of the three black males who had entered the tavern approximately 25 minutes prior to the robbery and as one of the robbers. McDaniel identified appellant Harris as a 'look-alike' of the third black male but could not positively identify him at the lineup.
Nancy Durham, manager of the tavern, corroborated the testimony of the owner, McDaniel, on the events of the robbery but could not identify the appellants as two of the perpetrators. Detective W. R. Plough testified that during the course of his investigation of the robbery he obtained information from an informant which led to the procurement of a warrant for appellant Harris. After being advised of his rights, appellant Harris made a statement to the officers in which he admitted his participation in the robbery and stated, Appellant Harris testified that upon his arrest the detective gave him a statement to sign under the threat of being 'sent away for life' unless he signed the statement. Appellant Harris also denied at the trial any participation in the robbery.
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