Jackson v. the State.
| Decision Date | 28 April 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. A11A0750.,A11A0750. |
| Citation | 710 S.E.2d 649,309 Ga.App. 450 |
| Parties | JACKSONv.The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
309 Ga.App. 450
710 S.E.2d 649
11 FCDR 1387
JACKSON
v.
The STATE.
No. A11A0750.
Court of Appeals of Georgia.
April 28, 2011.
[710 S.E.2d 650]
Hollowell, Foster & Herring, Jolanda Evon Herring, Atlanta, for appellant.R. Javoyne Hicks White, Dist. Atty., Deborah D. Wellborn, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.MIKELL, Judge.
[309 Ga.App. 450] Nathaniel Lawrence Jackson was convicted of two counts of aggravated child molestation and one count of child molestation and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, asserting that the trial court erred in admitting similar transaction evidence and that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We affirm for the reasons set forth below.
[309 Ga.App. 451] Construed in the light most favorable to the verdict, 1 the evidence shows that the victim, G.W., was 12 or 13 years old when he began living with Jackson, whom he called “Uncle Nick.” G.W. described their “routine” as follows: Jackson would wake him up, take him into Jackson's bedroom, take off G.W.'s clothes, tell him to lie on his stomach, give him a massage, and then anally penetrate G.W. with his penis. Jackson also had G.W. perform oral and anal sex on him. The sexual abuse continued for three or four years. Although Jackson does not enumerate the general grounds as error, we find the
[710 S.E.2d 651]
evidence sufficient to support his conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.2
1. Jackson contends the trial court erred in admitting similar transaction evidence regarding his prior aggravated molestation of another young boy, arguing that the state failed to show that it sought to introduce the evidence for an appropriate purpose.
Before evidence of prior crimes is admissible, the trial court must determine that the [s]tate has affirmatively shown that: (1) the [s]tate seeks to admit evidence of the independent offenses or acts for an appropriate purpose; (2) there is sufficient evidence that the accused committed the independent offenses or acts; and (3) there is sufficient connection or similarity between the independent offenses or acts and the crimes charged so that proof of the former tends to prove the latter.3
“Appropriate purposes include showing motive, plan, scheme, bent of mind, and course of conduct.” 4 Evidence of similar crimes is admissible where its relevance to show such purposes outweighs its prejudicial impact. 5 “As a general rule, the sexual molestation of young children or teenagers, regardless of the type of act, is sufficiently similar to be admissible as similar transaction evidence.” 6 A trial court's decision to admit similar transaction evidence will be upheld absent an abuse of discretion.7In the case at bar, the state gave notice of its intent to introduce evidence concerning a 1989 case in which Jackson pled guilty, but mentally ill, to aggravated child molestation based on acts of anal [309 Ga.App. 452] penetration and oral sodomy committed against an eight-year-old boy. At the similar transaction hearing, the state proffered evidence that Jackson was a handyman at the apartment complex where the victim lived, and the victim helped Jackson with odd jobs in exchange for cash. This victim testified at trial that Jackson asked him if he wanted to make more money, then took him into an abandoned apartment, ordered him to remove his clothes, and anally penetrated him. Jackson had previously performed oral sex on the child.
At the hearing, the state indicated that it wished to introduce the similar transaction evidence for all appropriate purposes: identity, plan, motive, bent of mind, and course of conduct. The trial court ruled that the evidence would be admissible for the purpose of showing Jackson's bent of mind, course of conduct, and lustful disposition.
In cases of sexual abuse of children, evidence of prior sexual acts performed on other children is admissible to show the lustful disposition of the defendant toward children, and, because there is seldom a competent witness other than the victim to what occurred, to corroborate testimony of the...
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Kirkland v. State
...there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different.” (Footnote omitted.) Jackson v. State,309 Ga.App. 450, 452(2), 710 S.E.2d 649 (2011). See Strickland v. Washington,466 U.S. 668, 687(III), 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). If Kirkland fails to p......
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Mills v. State
...the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the similar transaction evidence in this case. See Jackson v. State, 309 Ga.App. 450, 452(1), 710 S.E.2d 649 (2011); Cook v. State, 276 Ga.App. 803, 809–810(6), 625 S.E.2d 83 (2005). “Furthermore, the trial court acted within its dis......
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Campbell v. State
...there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different.” (Footnote omitted.) Jackson v. State, 309 Ga.App. 450, 452(2), 710 S.E.2d 649 (2011). If Campbell fails to prove either the deficiency or prejudice prong of the test for ineffective assistance, his c......
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Dean v. State
...similar to be admissible as similar transaction evidence.” (Citations, punctuation and footnote omitted.) Jackson v. State, 309 Ga.App. 450, 451(1), 710 S.E.2d 649 (2011). Based upon all of these guiding principles, we conclude that the trial court did not err by admitting evidence of Dean'......