Lawler v. State, S02P1377.

• Citation: 576 S.E.2d 841,276 Ga. 229
• Decision Date: 27 January 2003
• Docket Number: No. S02P1377.,S02P1377.
• Parties: LAWLER v. The STATE.
• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia

576 S.E.2d 841

276 Ga. 229

LAWLER v. The STATE.

No. S02P1377.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

January 27, 2003.

Reconsideration Denied February 24, 2003.

Michael R. Hauptman, Atlanta, Chandler & Britt, L.L.C., Buford, Melnick & Beall, Jonesboro, Walt M. Britt, John A. Beall IV, for Appellant.

Paul L. Howard, Jr., Dist. Atty., Bettieanne C. Hart, Deputy Dist. Atty., Peggy A. Katz, Anne E. Green, Asst. Dist. Attys., Atlanta; Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Mitchell P. Watkins, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for Appellee. HINES, Justice.

Gregory Paul Lawler shot Atlanta police officers John Sowa and Patricia Cocciolone, killing Officer Sowa and severely wounding Officer Cocciolone. A jury found him guilty of malice murder, aggravated battery on a peace officer, and other crimes. The jury recommended a death sentence for the murder after finding the following aggravating circumstances: that the murder of Officer Sowa was committed while Lawler was engaged in the commission of an aggravated battery on Officer Cocciolone; and that the murder was committed against a peace officer while he was engaged in the performance of his official duties. OCGA § 17-10-30(b)(2), (8). Lawler appeals. We affirm.¹

1. The evidence adduced at trial showed the following: Lawler and his girlfriend, Donna Rodgers, were drinking at a bar near their Atlanta apartment at approximately 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 12, 1997. Ms. Rodgers was very intoxicated. They left the bar and began walking home when they had some type of altercation in the parking lot of a pawn shop. A person at a nearby gas station believed that Lawler was striking an intoxicated Ms. Rodgers with a bag. He drove to a police station and reported what he had seen. Officer Cocciolone and Officer Sowa went to the parking lot and observed Ms. Rodgers sitting on a curb with Lawler trying to pull her to her feet. Lawler left the scene and walked to the apartment when the police arrived. The officers did not pursue Lawler; since Ms. Rodgers was intoxicated and lived only a short distance away, they decided to help her get home. The placed her in a patrol car and drove to her and Lawler's apartment, which was a two-story townhouse-style apartment with a ground floor door.

They parked on the street, escorted her up the walk (witnesses testified that she had difficulty standing), and knocked on the door. Lawler opened the door and began yelling "get the f___away from my door" at the officers. After Ms. Rodgers was inside, he tried to shut the door on them. Officer Sowa put a hand up to prevent the door from shutting and said they were just trying to confirm that Ms. Rodgers lived there and that she would be okay. Lawler grabbed an AR-15 rifle he had placed next to the door when he saw the officers arrive and opened fire on the officers as they fled for cover. A neighbor testified that she heard a young man's voice shout, "Please don't shoot me"; another neighbor testified that she saw Lawler emerge from the apartment firing a gun; and a third neighbor testified that she saw the officers running with their backs to the apartment during the shooting. Lawler fired fifteen times; the police found three shell casings inside the apartment and the remainder outside the apartment. A fourth neighbor testified that seconds after the shooting he saw Lawler standing over the crumpled form of Officer Cocciolone holding what appeared to be a rifle; Lawler then ran back into the apartment. Lawler had fired penetrator bullets, which can pierce police body armor.

Officer Cocciolone managed to send a radio distress call and other police officers arrived at the scene. They found the victims in front of Lawler's apartment, with Officer Sowa lying next to a parked car near the sidewalk and Officer Cocciolone collapsed on the front yard. Both officers still had their pistols snapped into their holsters. Officer Sowa was shot five times in the back, buttocks, and chest, and, according to the medical examiner, died almost immediately. Officer Cocciolone was hit three times in the head, arm, and buttocks. Despite a shattered pelvis, damaged intestines, and permanent brain injury, she survived and testified at Lawler's trial.

One of the responding officers, Sergeant Adams, peered through Lawler's front window and saw Ms. Rodgers sitting on the floor. He opened the front door and entered the apartment. While inside, he heard footfalls upstairs and the sound of a rifle action being worked so he retreated from the apartment and took Ms. Rodgers with him. After a six-hour stand-off, a hostage negotiator convinced Lawler to surrender. The murder weapon, the AR-15 rifle, was found in the apartment along with numerous other firearms and several different types of ammunition. Lawler's co-worker testified that Lawler had expressed his "extreme dislike" of the police and stated that if any tried to enter his home he would be ready for them.

The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Lawler was guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery on a peace officer, two counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). The evidence was also sufficient to authorize the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the statutory aggravating circumstances which support his death sentence for the murder. Jackson v. Virginia, supra; OCGA § 17-10-35(c)(2).

2. Lawler's evidence failed to establish a constitutional or statutory fair-cross-section violation with regard to the Fulton County grand and traverse jury lists. See Morrow v. State, 272 Ga. 691(1), 532 S.E.2d 78 (2000); OCGA § 15-12-40; Unified Appeal Procedure, Rule II(C)(6).

There is no constitutional guarantee that grand or petit juries, impaneled in a particular case, will constitute a representative cross-section of the entire community. [Cit.] The proper inquiry concerns the procedures for compiling the jury lists and not the actual composition of the grand or traverse jury in a particular case. [Cit.]

Torres v. State, 272 Ga. 389, 391(4), 529 S.E.2d 883 (2000).

3. Lawler complains about the State's use of victim-impact evidence in the sentencing phase. The State presented five victim-impact witnesses: Officer Sowa's widow, mother, father, sister, and a fellow officer who was a friend. Lawler concedes that the brief testimony of these witnesses complied with the procedures for the admission of victim-impact evidence outlined by this Court in Turner v. State, 268 Ga. 213(2)(a), 486 S.E.2d 839 (1997). The witnesses reduced their statements to writing, and these statements were reviewed before trial by the court, who ordered some redactions of potentially improper material. See id. In addition, the court ordered a "dry run" of these witnesses during the trial without the jury present. Lawler thus had several opportunities to challenge the proposed testimony, and we conclude that the brief testimony eventually placed before the jury was not improper or unduly prejudicial. See id. at 215-216(2)(b), 486 S.E.2d 839; Pickren v. State, 269 Ga. 453(1), 500 S.E.2d 566 (1998); Jones v. State, 267 Ga. 592(2)(a), 481 S.E.2d 821 (1997). The trial court also charged the jury several times on the purpose of victim-impact evidence. Most of Lawler's complaints about the victim-impact testimony concern its effect rather than its substance. He alleges that several witnesses became emotional during their testimony and that some jurors also cried. The record reveals that there was some crying by witnesses and jurors; the trial court noted during the discussion of Lawler's objection, when the jury was not present, that the testimony of Officer Sowa's mother had been "sad." However, the record does not reveal any outbursts or displays of emotion that would unduly prejudice the defendant. See Jones, supra at 595-596(2)(b), 481 S.E.2d 821. The testimony to be primarily guarded against in death penalty trials involves the use of arbitrary factors in the decision to impose a death sentence, such as race or religion, and not the emotion caused by the defendant's actions and the ensuing loss. See id.; Livingston v. State, 264 Ga. 402(1)

(b), 444 S.E.2d 748 (1994); OCGA § 17-10-35(c)(1). Trials often involve witnesses who testify before a jury about traumatic or sad events; their testimony is not unconstitutional because it is poignant. See Pickren, supra at 454, 500 S.E.2d 566. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Lawler's objection to the victim-impact testimony. See Jones, supra.

4. We find no error with the trial court's denials of Lawler's motions to suppress evidence.

(a). Lawler's claim that he was illegally stopped or detained in the pawn shop parking lot is without merit. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The evidence at trial showed that he was neither stopped nor detained; in fact, he admitted at trial that he left after the officers arrived, and he testified, "I wasn't being chased or anything. So apparently the police didn't want to arrest me."

(b). During the stand-off, a police officer seized a shell casing from in front of Lawler's apartment to see if Lawler was armed with a weapon that "will defeat the body armor that we wear." After Lawler surrendered, the SWAT team swept the apartment "looking for any other possible suspects or victims." The SWAT team noticed black powder and chemicals, and the bomb squad then swept the apartment to "make sure there was nothing inside that was dangerous." All of these warrantless searches were proper and reasonable. See Delay v. State, 258 Ga. 229, 230(2)(b), 367 S.E.2d 806 (1988).

[W]hen the police come upon the scene of a homicide they may make a prompt warrantless search of the area to see if there are other victims

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