Kimbro v. State

Decision Date08 January 1980
Docket NumberNo. 58647,58647
Citation152 Ga.App. 893,264 S.E.2d 327
PartiesKIMBRO v. The STATE.
CourtGeorgia Court of Appeals

J. H. Affleck, Jr., Athens, for appellant.

Harry N. Gordon, Dist. Atty., B. Thomas Cook, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

CARLEY, Judge.

From a burglary conviction, appellant brings this appeal. The sole enumeration of error is the trial court's denial of appellant's motion for directed verdict of acquittal. It is urged that the state's evidence is insufficient as a matter of law to support the conviction.

The state presented two witnesses who testified that on the night in question they heard the sound of breaking glass and left their home to investigate. An individual was observed to enter a laundromat through a broken glass door. The individual, after gaining entry, then attempted to break into a juke box. One of the witnesses then left to call the police. As the police car approached, the individual in the laundromat began to flee across the street, holding a tire tool and he was then recognized as one Lonnie Lamar Rogers. At that point, another individual, identified as appellant, was noticed to be waiting across the street from the laundromat in a gas station parking lot. Rogers and appellant were then observed to flee together and hide in some nearby furniture crates.

Upon the arrival of the police, the witnesses pointed out where the two men had hidden themselves. Rogers and appellant were discovered inside a box which also contained a tire tool and a pair of gloves. Footprints inside the laundromat matched those of Rogers.

While mere presence at the scene of the commission of a crime is not sufficient evidence to convict one of being a party thereto, " 'presence, companionship, and conduct before and after the offense are circumstances from which one's participation in the criminal intent may be inferred.' " Jones v. State, 242 Ga. 893, 252 S.E.2d 394 (1979). In the instant case, there was evidence that Rogers, the individual identified as having actually committed the act of burglary, and appellant had been seen together on prior occasions. Indeed, one witness thought they had the same last name and were brothers. On the night of the burglary, appellant was observed in a position which authorized the inference that he was standing as a lookout while Rogers entered the laundromat. Simmons v. State, 129 Ga.App. 107, 198 S.E.2d 718 (1973). After Rogers left the burgled premises, appellant fled the scene with him. Woodruff v. State, 233 Ga. 840, 213 S.E.2d 689 (1975); Johnson v. State, 148 Ga.App. 702, 252 S.E.2d 205 (1979). When discovered, appellant was apparently attempting to avoid detection, having fled with Rogers from the scene of the crime. Terry v. State, 130 Ga.App. 655, 204 S.E.2d 372 (1974). The evidence, though circumstantial, authorized the verdict. Miller v. State, 145 Ga.App. 653, 244...

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34 cases
  • Jones v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • October 7, 1981
    ...beyond a reasonable doubt of the offenses of rape and robbery. Green v. State, 152 Ga.App. 387, 388(2), 262 S.E.2d 639; Kimbro v. State, 152 Ga.App. 893, 264 S.E.2d 327; Heard v. State, 153 Ga.App. 474, 265 S.E.2d 828; Boyd v. State, 244 Ga. 130, 132, 259 S.E.2d 71; Prather v. State, 247 Ga......
  • Eason v. State, A98A2149.
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • September 16, 1998
    ...209 Ga.App. 507, 511(4), 433 S.E.2d 443 (1993); Searcy v. State, 162 Ga.App. 695, 696(1), 291 S.E.2d 557 (1982); Kimbro v. State, 152 Ga.App. 893, 894, 264 S.E.2d 327 (1980). "`Moreover, where transactions involving relatives are under review slight circumstances are often sufficient to ind......
  • McGee v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • July 6, 2012
    ...authorizes a conviction for that crime.” Dixon v. State, 277 Ga.App. 656, 659, 627 S.E.2d 406 (2006). See also Kimbro v. State, 152 Ga.App. 893, 894, 264 S.E.2d 327 (1980) (jury entitled to find that defendant was party to the crime when the defendant “was observed in a position which autho......
  • Scott v. State
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • May 26, 1999
    ...v. State, 119 Ga. 437, 439, 46 S.E. 640 (1903 [1904]). Accord, Jones v. State, 242 Ga. 893, 252 S.E.2d 394 (1979); Kimbro v. State, 152 Ga.App. 893, 264 S.E.2d 327 (1980). Slack v. State, 159 Ga.App. 185, 189(3), 283 S.E.2d 64. Here, there is evidence that the defendants frequently did yard......
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