Helton v. State, A94A2326
| Citation | 216 Ga.App. 748,455 S.E.2d 848 |
| Decision Date | 17 March 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. A94A2326,A94A2326 |
| Parties | HELTON v. The STATE. |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals (Georgia) |
David L. Whitman, Lawrenceville, for appellant.
Daniel J. Porter, Dist. Atty., and Nancy J. Dupree, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
In two trials Timothy Helton was convicted by a jury of five counts of reckless conduct and one count of simple battery. He appeals from the trial court's denial of his consolidated motion for new trial.
Prior to being charged with the offenses in this case, Helton was incarcerated at the Jackson County Correctional Institute. While on a work detail, Helton escaped in a prison pickup truck. Shortly thereafter, a Jackson County sheriff's deputy spotted Helton driving south on Interstate 85, turned on his blue lights and siren, and began pursuing the truck. The sheriff testified that Helton was driving at approximately 90 mph and was passing traffic by driving in the median strip and emergency lane. Other officers joined the pursuit and before Helton stopped several miles later, he hit three patrol cars, and four civilian cars.
Although Helton does not dispute the facts above, he asserted as his sole defense in both trials that the collisions were accidents and on appeal contends that the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on this defense. OCGA § 16-2-2 provides that "[a] person shall not be found guilty of any crime committed by misfortune or accident where it satisfactorily appears there was no criminal scheme or undertaking, intention, or criminal negligence." (Emphasis supplied.) Keye v. State, 136 Ga.App. 707, 708(1), 222 S.E.2d 172 (1975).
Helton's "own testimony belies his argument that failure to charge on accident is error in this case." Gaston v. State, 209 Ga.App. 477(1), 433 S.E.2d 306 (1993). During the second trial, Helton testified that he He further testified that he "cared about people getting hit, but some people's going to get hit when you're speeding down the highway and they're so many people around you." Even by Helton's...
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