Martin v. State, A93A0838
| Decision Date | 12 July 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. A93A0838,A93A0838 |
| Citation | 209 Ga.App. 720,434 S.E.2d 534 |
| Parties | MARTIN v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Anna Blitz, Atlanta, for appellant.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Vivian D. Hoard, Leonora Grant, Asst. Dist. Attys., for appellee.
Defendant Marvin Martin was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and one count of kidnapping. He appeals following the denial of his motion and amended motions for new trial.
1. Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him of the armed robbery of James Hamm, arguing that his conviction for that offense was based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of an alleged accomplice. As to this issue, the evidence adduced at trial showed that between 11:00 p.m. and midnight on February 21, 1991 James Hamm drove to a C & S Bank on Old National Highway to make a deposit. Hamm exited his car, a red Mazda, and left the motor running. While he was standing at the automatic teller machine, two men approached him, ordered him not to move and drove off in his car. The alleged accomplice, Travis Williams, who was tried with defendant and also convicted on all charges, testified at trial that he was one of the two men who approached Hamm and robbed Hamm of his car. He further testified that he, the defendant, Carl Gilmore 1 and Darrell Boyd had all gone to Old National Highway that night for the purpose of finding a car to steal, and that he and Gilmore approached the victim while defendant and Boyd acted as look-outs. Williams testified that after they stole the car he and Gilmore drove back to where defendant and Boyd were waiting and picked them up.
Darrell Boyd, who was not indicted for any crime in connection with these events, testified at trial that he, along with Williams, Gilmore and the defendant, rode the bus to Old National Highway and then went to Williams' girl friend's house, where they stayed for two or three hours. Boyd testified they walked to the bus stop, but then Williams informed Boyd no more buses were running that night. According to Boyd, he and the defendant then walked away from Williams and Gilmore and sat outside a grocery store and talked. Approximately 15 minutes later, Williams and Gilmore drove up in a red car. Boyd testified he and the defendant got into the car, and when Boyd asked Williams about the owner of the car Williams told him that "they stole it." Williams then drove everyone home in the stolen car.
Williams and defendant's girl friend testified that Williams and the defendant met the next day at the defendant's girl friend's house and discussed stealing another car. The victim of the second armed robbery, Elizabeth McCrary, testified that she first noticed a red Mazda behind her at the intersection of Old Fairburn and Cascade Roads. The car continued to follow her onto Cascade Road, and McCrary noticed that the car was very close behind her. The car continued to get closer to McCrary and finally bumped her rear bumper. McCrary pulled to the side of the road to check on her infant daughter, who was riding in a child seat in the back seat of the car, and the red car pulled in behind her. McCrary said she got out of her car and that Williams and the defendant, who was driving, got out of the red Mazda. McCrary testified that while she and the defendant were talking about the collision, Williams "darted around" to the driver's side of her car and started to get in. McCrary testified she tried to stop Williams from getting into her car and that he pulled out a gun and told her he would kill her. McCrary then began screaming at Williams to give her her baby out of the car, but Williams drove away with the baby in the car. According to McCrary, defendant then got back in the red Mazda and followed Williams down the road and that a short time later she saw her car, followed by the red Mazda, traveling at a high rate of speed in the opposite direction on Cascade Road. McCrary's car, with her baby still inside, was recovered six to seven hours later at a gas station located near the apartments where both Williams and defendant lived.
Defendant testified at trial and denied his participation in the crimes charged. Defendant admitted he was in the vicinity of the crime when Hamm's car was stolen, but stated that he, along with Williams, Gilmore and Boyd, had gone to Old National Highway that night to meet friends. According to defendant, they waited several hours for the friends to arrive and then Williams and...
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Cain v. State
...determination. Day v. State, 197 Ga.App. 875, 876, 399 S.E.2d 741 (1990). There was adequate corroboration here. Martin v. State, 209 Ga.App. 720, 722(1), 434 S.E.2d 534 (1993). A person acting as a lookout during the commission of a crime is a participant in that crime. DeLoach v. State, 1......
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J.B., In Interest of, A96A1304
...of the accomplice even if the corroborating evidence is not sufficient standing alone to warrant a conviction. See Martin v. State, 209 Ga.App. 720, 434 S.E.2d 534 (1993). The evidence corroborating the accomplice's testimony must be independent of the accomplice's testimony and must direct......
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P.A.W., In Interest of
...identifying the accused as a participant in the crime is all that is needed to corroborate an accomplice's testimony (Martin v. State, 209 Ga.App. 720, 434 S.E.2d 534), that evidence must independently and directly connect the accused with the crime itself or lead to the inference that the ......
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Young v. State
...of burglary beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); Martin v. State, 209 Ga.App. 720, 434 S.E.2d 534 (1993). 2. Defendant also enumerates as error the insufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction of the burglary of Carol......