Leslie v. State

• Decision Date: 04 February 2013
• Docket Number: No. S12A1678.,S12A1678.
• Citation: 738 S.E.2d 42,292 Ga. 368
• Parties: LESLIE v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

292 Ga. 368

738 S.E.2d 42

LESLIE

v.The STATE.

No. S12A1678.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Feb. 4, 2013.

Holly Grace Chapman, Office Of the Public Defender, Augusta, for appellant.

Katherine Lee Iannuzzi, Asst. Atty. Gen., Paula Khristian Smith, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., Samuel S. Olens, Atty. Gen., Department of Law, Charles R. Sheppard, Asst. Dist. Atty., Rebecca Ashley Wright, Dist. Atty., Office Of the District Attorney, for appellee.

BENHAM, Justice.

Appellant Sajid Fitzgerald Leslie was convicted of murder and arson in connection with the death of his former girlfriend Lori Hastings. ¹ WE AFFIRM HIS CONVictions for the reasons set forth below.

1. On April 22, 1999, at approximately 11:10 pm, police were dispatched at the request of firefighters to a parking lot adjacent to a mall in Richmond County, Georgia. Firefighters had found a car with its passenger compartment engulfed in flames. Once the fire was extinguished, authorities determined that a burned body was inside the car. Police recovered jewelry from the body, including a watch that was stopped at 11 o'clock. Through dental records and paperwork related to the vehicle, police identified the body as being that of the victim, Ms. Hastings. The medical examiner testified that the victim was alive when the fire began and that she died from soot and smoke inhalation and from thermal burns. A forensic expert testified that the victim's clothing and components from the vehicle tested positive for the presence of gasoline. Police spoke to appellant because he had dated the victim. During his first interview with authorities on April 25, 1999, ² the police investigator noticed that appellant had injuries to his face and that the skin pigmentation on appellant's face was discolored. Appellant told police that he had sustained injuries to his face from falling off a motorcycle. Appellant also told the authorities that his face was burned when his carburetor backfired while he was fixing his car. The mother of appellant's son testified that earlier in the evening of the night the victim was killed, she saw appellant and he did not have any injuries to his face. The victim's 12 year-old son testified that his mother received a message from appellant on her pager at around 10 p.m. on the night of her death and that she left their home stating that she would return in an hour. A fire investigation expert testified that the vehicle fire that killed the victim was intentionally set using gasoline as an accelerant; that the carburetor of appellant's vehicle did not show any evidence of a backfire; and opined that the injuries to appellant's face were caused by a flash fire like the one that destroyed the victim's car and were not caused by backfire from a carburetor. At trial, appellant took the stand and denied that he had killed the victim. Appellant testified that he was at a dog fight at the time in question, but admitted that he could not provide any contact information regarding any persons who could corroborate his alibi.

The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Appellant alleges the trial court erred when it admitted improper character evidence by (a) allowing testimony concerning a similar transaction and by (b) allowing testimony concerning appellant's use of an alias to purchase a pager.

a. At the time appellant was tried in 2000, similar transaction evidence could be admitted to show the defendant's bent of mind or course of conduct, and, when proffered for these purposes, requires a lesser degree of similarity than when proffered for the purpose of identity. Holloman v. State, 291 Ga. 338(6), 729 S.E.2d 344 (2012); Neal v. State, 290 Ga. 563(2), 722 S.E.2d 765 (2012).³ In cases of domestic violence, prior instances of abuse toward sexual partners “are more generally permitted because there is a logical connection between violent acts against two different persons with whom the accused had a similar emotional or intimate attachment.[Cit.]” Hall v. State, 287 Ga. 755(2), 699 S.E.2d 321 (2010). We review the trial court's decision to admit such evidence for an abuse of discretion. Holloman, 291 Ga. at 343, 729 S.E.2d 344;Hall v. State, 287 Ga. at 757, 699 S.E.2d 321.

At the pretrial hearing on the State's motion to introduce similar transaction evidence, the mother of appellant's son testified that in 1998, the victim contacted her by telephone to tell her that the victim and appellant were having an intimate relationship. Although appellant had recently moved out of their home and their five-year relationship had ended, the mother of appellant's son was unaware of the appellant's relationship with the victim and told the victim as much. The victim put appellant on the phone call, telling him to confirm their relationship, but he became upset and left the conversation. Shortly after the phone call, appellant appeared at the home of his son's mother. When she would not allow him inside, he broke through the back door and held a gun to her head before leaving with their son. The mother of appellant's son testified that appellant was angry because she told the victim that she and appellant had lived together. The trial court found that this evidence was “relevant to show bent of mind, the course of conduct, and intent of [appellant]” and was not being introduced for the purpose of showing appellant's character.

We cannot say the trial court abused its discretion. The evidence revealed a course of conduct in which appellant acted violently toward women with whom he had intimate relationships even after the relationship had ended. Accordingly, this enumerated error cannot be sustained.

b. At trial, a witness testified that appellant purchased a pager using the alias “Anellerro Dellacrose.” Appellant alleges this testimony constituted improper character evidence because it had the effect of showing the jury that he had a propensity for criminal activity because he bought a pager using a false name. The trial transcript shows that appellant moved for a mistrial regarding this testimony. The State responded that it would show, with the production of other evidence during the course of the trial, that the testimony was not merely to introduce appellant's character.⁴ Appellant agreed that he would revisit his motion, at a later time, if necessary, and the trial court made no ruling except to say it would allow appellant to raise the issue again. The trial proceeded without any further objection from appellant about this witness's testimony. Under such circumstances, the issue was not preserved for review. See Jones v. State, 268 Ga. 12(3), 483 S.E.2d 871 (1997).

3. At trial, the victim's ex-husband testified and he denied making a statement to his then girlfriend that he would kill her in the same manner as the victim was killed. Based on this testimony, appellant alleges the trial court erred when it did not allow him to impeach the ex-husband and/or support his theory of defense that someone else committed the crime with evidence of his prior bad acts, namely his conviction for simple battery of the girlfriend and the factual circumstances underlying that conviction. We disagree. At the time of the trial, Georgia's former evidence code provided at OCGA § 24–9–84.1(a)(3) (2000) that “Evidence that any witness ... has been convicted of a crime shall be admitted if it involved dishonesty or making a false statement, regardless of the punishment that could be imposed for such offense.” Since the conviction at issue did not involve dishonesty or making a false statement and was inadmissable inasmuch as the ex-husband had an uncontested alibi on the night of the murder, the trial court did not err in barring its admission. Id.; Fields v. State, 285 Ga.App. 345(2), 646 S.E.2d 326 (2007). See also Curry v. State, 291 Ga. 446(5), 729 S.E.2d 370 (2012) (“Evidence that merely casts a bare suspicion on another or ‘raise[s] a conjectural inference as to the commission of the crime by another is not admissible. [Cits.]’ [Cit.]”). We note further that appellant was able to impeach the ex-husband's testimony about the alleged threat he made to the girlfriend when the girlfriend was called by the defense to testify at trial. The defense was also able to present evidence that another person, a doctor against whom the victim had a sexual harassment complaint, may have been an alternate suspect for the crime. The omission of the ex-husband's prior conviction was harmless.

4. Appellant alleges the trial court erred when it failed to exclude appellant's first statement to police on the grounds that appellant was not given warnings pursuant to Miranda.⁵ Appellant contends that because the investigator saw burns on appellant's face and may have subjectively considered appellant to be a suspect during his initial questioning, the police were required to advise him of his Miranda rights before questioning. We disagree. Miranda warnings are required when a person is formally arrested or restrained to a degree associated with a formal arrest. Sosniak v. State, 287 Ga. 279(1)(A)(1), 695 S.E.2d 604 (2010). A police officer's undisclosed suspicions about the person being questioned do not factor into the determination as to whether a person is in custody. Id. at 281, 695 S.E.2d 604. See also Anguiano v. State, 313 Ga.App. 449, 453, 721 S.E.2d 652 (2011) (“ ‘[e]ven where police have probable cause to arrest at the time of the interrogation and intend to arrest the suspect in the future, the intent to arrest in the future is irrelevant to the custody issue, unless the police communicate the intent during the course of the interrogation.’ [Cit.]”). At the Jackson–Denno⁶ hearing it was shown that when appellant had his first meeting with police, the...