Hill v. State, 28871
| Decision Date | 24 September 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 28871,28871 |
| Citation | 209 S.E.2d 153,232 Ga. 800 |
| Parties | Alice Askew HILL v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
David Crosland, Atlanta, for appellant.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
Steven Ray Yancey, a taxicab driver, was found dead of gunshot wounds next to his cab on a rural dirt road near the city of Carrollton, Carroll, County, on the afternoon of March 30, 1973. The appellant, Alice Askey Hill, was indicted for Yancey's murder along with Lonnie Kidd and her brother, David Lee Askew. She was given a separate trial, found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Her amended motion for new trial was overruled, and she appeals.
The state's evidence showed substantially the following: At approximately 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. on March 30, 1973, three brothers, Bennie, Larry and Bobby Vaughn, and a friend, Lamar Taylor, were drinking beer and 'pitching pennies' by a bridge on the side of a dirt road which connects the Hayes Mill road and the Bonner 'black top' road near Carrollton. The Vaughn brothers testified that the appellant drove to their location from the direction of the 'black top' road. With her in the car were Lonnie Kidd and David Lee Askew. The appellant told Taylor and the Vaughn brothers that she was taking Kidd and Askew to meet two girls. She then drove up the dirt road and over a hill toward the Hayes Mill road. Some time later, the appellant returned alone from the direction of the Hayes Mill road and again stopped to talk with Taylor and the Vaughn brothers. Bobby Vaughn got into the car with her, and the two drove up to the top of the hill, turned around, and returned to the spot near the bridge.
Hill Seaton, a local resident, testified that he turned onto the dirt road from the Hayes Mill road and saw one Gaines leaving the area. Gaines told him that a man was lying dead further up on the dirt road. After briefly inspecting the body, Seaton told Gaines to stay on the scene while he went to phone for help. Seaton then proceeded along the dirt road, over the hill, and approached the bridge where the appellant, the Vaughn brothers, and Taylor were located. He told them that a man was lying dead on the other side of the hill and that they were to stay where they were. He continued down the dirt road and called the sheriff. The appellant then drove again to the top of the hill, this time with Lamar Taylor in the car, turned around, and drove back past the bridge toward the 'black top' road and into Carrollton.
Shortly thereafter, Sheriff Robinson arrived at the scene of the killing and told the Vaughn brothers, who were also in the process of leaving the area, to stay where they were. An investigation was immediately begun by Sheriff Robinson, Deputy Sheriff Bell, and Officer McMachen of the Georgia Division of Investigation.
Deputy Sheriff Bell testified that he spoke with the appellant the following day at her trailer. Although she was not yet a suspect, Bell gave her the Miranda warnings and she signed a waiver. She told him that she had taken Kidd and Askew out to the dirt road and dropped them off behind a car occupied by two girls whom the boys had arranged to meet. Officer McMachen interviewed the appellant on April 3, and she gave essentially the same story.
On April 5, the appellant, Kidd and Askew were arrested for Yancey's murder. The appellant was again given the Miranda warnings, and she signed another waiver. She again told the officers that she had let Kidd and Askew out behind a car occupied by two girls.
After the three suspects had been arrested and brought to the Carroll County jail, Kidd and Askew made signed statements. Askew admitted having killed Yancey. He said that he, Kidd and the appellant had planned to rob a cab driver and that on March 30 at approximately 1:00 p.m. the appellant drove them to her trailer to get the gun that was later used in the killing. He said that they then drove to a curb market where he called the cab company. They then drove to the dirt road and appellant let Kidd and Askew out by a house near the scene of the killing. The appellant was to drive to the top of the nearby hill, act as lookout, and return to get them.
Officer McMachen testified that shortly after Askew made his statement, he was brought into the room in which the appellant was being questioned. McMachen read Askew's statement to the appellant in Askew's presence. Askew was then taken out of the room, and McMachen asked the appellant if she wanted to change her story. She replied that she was going to stand by her original story. According to testimony given by McMachen in a Jackson-Denno hearing, the appellant stood silent and made no denials during the time that Askew was in the room.
Some time thereafter the appellant told Deputy Sheriff Bell that she had lied about the actual presence of the two girls and said that, instead, she dropped Kidd and Askew off by themselves to wait for the two girls. Later, at the appellant's preliminary hearing Kidd and Askew denied that the appellant had anything to do with Yancey's killing.
1. The appellant contends that Officer McMachen's testimony as to the contents of David Askew's statement was inadmissible hearsay.
The state contends that the...
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