Menzies v. State

• Decision Date: 29 June 2018
• Docket Number: S18A0541
• Citation: 304 Ga. 156,816 S.E.2d 638
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court
• Parties: MENZIES v. The STATE.

304 Ga. 156

816 S.E.2d 638

MENZIES

v.The STATE.

S18A0541

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: June 29, 2018

Patricia M. Moon, for appellant.

Alisha A. Johnson, District Attorney, Alicia C. Gant, Assistant District Attorney; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Jason M. Rea, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Grant, Justice.

Following a jury trial, Christina Menzies was found guilty of felony murder, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, and related crimes in connection with the shooting death of Menzies's sister Jennifer during an attempted armed robbery.¹ On appeal, Menzies contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdicts, that the trial court erred in denying her motion for directed verdict at the close of the State's case, that her trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move for a mistrial in response to a comment made by the prosecuting attorney in closing argument, and that the trial court erred in failing to exclude certain statements Menzies made while alone in an interview room at the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office. None of these claims succeed, and we affirm.

I.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence presented at trial showed that Menzies devised a scheme to steal hair (intended to be used in hair weaves) from Kap Suk Sims; Menzies knew Sims because she had purchased hair from her on several prior occasions. Menzies recruited her sister Jennifer and co-indictee Jaquan Mareek House to join her in the robbery, which she referred to as a "hair weave jug." House subsequently enlisted his friends, co-indictees Brandon Lamothe and James Edwards, for additional assistance. The group planned to sell the hair after the robbery.

On the morning of December 11, 2013, Menzies told Sims by telephone that she wanted to meet her to buy hair, and that Sims should bring as much hair as possible because Menzies had four cousins and an aunt who were also interested buyers. Menzies asked Sims to come alone, but Sims refused. Still, she agreed to meet Menzies that night.

Sims called her boyfriend, Barry Morton, and requested that he accompany her to the sale. Morton agreed, and they made arrangements to meet Menzies later that night in the recreation area of the Fountain Crest subdivision in Rockdale County.

After meeting at Jennifer's house, Lamothe, Edwards, House, and Jennifer drove to the meeting place in one car, with Menzies driving separately in her own car. Lamothe, Edwards, and House had picked up a gun earlier that evening, and Edwards had the weapon with him. Menzies parked her car in the parking lot for the subdivision's swimming pool while House parked nearby. Menzies walked up to the car where House and the others sat waiting, and asked if they were ready. Edwards pulled back the slide to cock his pistol and confirmed that they were ready, and Menzies walked back to her car in the pool parking lot. After a few minutes, House, Edwards, and Jennifer walked toward the swimming pool, while Lamothe remained in the car in case a quick getaway was needed.

Sims and Morton arrived to find Menzies parked in a dark area of the pool parking lot. Sims got out of Morton's truck and opened the rear door, where she had a box of hair packs for Menzies to look through, while Morton remained in the driver's seat. Menzies told Sims that she liked the hair but that she needed to check with her cousins before buying it. Meanwhile, House, Edwards, and Jennifer had seen that Sims had a man with her, and were debating whether to go ahead with the robbery. Menzies pretended that she was texting her cousins to ask for a second opinion, but actually texted Jennifer, telling her and the others to "come on now," and that "the man in the front" was "big." Jennifer responded, "He got a gun[?]" and Menzies texted, "Idk [I don't know] but come on. Let's do this quik."

House, Edwards, and Jennifer ran toward Morton's truck. Edwards approached the open passenger door of the truck and pointed a gun at Morton, ordering him to "drop everything." Morton put his hands up in response. House thought that Edwards was pointing the gun at him and fled the scene. Morton, fearing for his life, grabbed his pistol from the seat and rolled out of the truck. Edwards shot at Morton as Morton moved toward the rear of the truck to take cover. Morton returned fire, and Edwards ran away. Sims, meanwhile, had dropped to the ground and played dead when the shooting started, thinking that Morton had been killed.

Jennifer came around the rear corner of the truck toward Morton. She was wearing dark clothing and holding up a white plastic bag, and Morton could not get a good look at her. Fearing that Jennifer was one of the robbers "coming back to finish [him] off," Morton shot her twice. Jennifer tried to crawl away, but Morton knocked her to the ground and told her not to move. He then called 911. While Morton was on the phone, Menzies pulled her car around to where Jennifer was lying and dragged her into the passenger seat.

Morton told Menzies that the police and paramedics were on their way, but Menzies ignored him; she finished loading Jennifer into the car and drove away.

Based on Morton's description of her vehicle, Menzies was stopped by responding officers. Jennifer was in the front passenger seat and appeared to be dead. Paramedics took Jennifer to the hospital, but ultimately confirmed that she was dead. Menzies told police that she had been a victim of the robbery, and denied that she knew Jennifer. Sergeant Daniel Lang asked Menzies to go to the sheriff's office to give a statement, and she agreed. At that point, Sgt. Lang considered her to be a victim.

While alone in the police interview room, Menzies spoke aloud to her deceased sister, saying, "Jen Jen, go back into your soul." Later, after police realized that the victim was her sister, Sgt. Lang returned to the interview room and read Menzies her Miranda rights. After Sgt. Lang departed, Menzies again spoke to her dead sister, saying: "Jen Jen, if you're here with me, I'm so sorry ... I know we didn't have an understanding before, but today I realize I do love you ... you had the feeling to not do it ... I shouldn't have took you, but I can't turn back time. I'm so sorry ... Forgive me, Jen Jen." She was arrested later the same night.

House was found by responding officers as he fled the area, and they brought him in for questioning. He admitted his involvement in the robbery after being informed that Jennifer had died, and he testified for the State at Menzies's trial.

At the crime scene, police found Edwards's 9mm pistol, five matching 9mm shell casings, and nine shell casings that matched to Morton's .40 caliber pistol. The medical examiner testified that Jennifer had suffered three gunshot wounds caused by two bullets, one of which had lethally traveled through her head and lodged in her heart.

II.

Menzies contends that the evidence introduced at trial and summarized above was insufficient to support her convictions for attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and felony murder, and that the trial court therefore erred in denying her motion for directed verdict at the close of the State's case. We do not agree.

When evaluating a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we view all of the evidence admitted at trial in the light most favorable to the prosecution and ask whether any rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes of which she was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.E.2d 560 (1979) ; Hayes v. State , 292 Ga. 506, 506, 739 S.E.2d 313 (2013). Our limited review under the standard set out in Jackson leaves to the jury the resolution of conflicts in the testimony, the weight of the evidence, the credibility of witnesses, and reasonable inferences to be made "from basic facts to ultimate facts." Musacchio v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, ––––, 136 S.Ct. 709, 193 L.Ed.2d 639 (2016) (citation and punctuation omitted); see Hayes , 292 Ga. at 506, 739 S.E.2d 313. The same standard of review applies when evaluating the denial of a defendant's motion for directed verdict. See Lewis v. State , 296 Ga. 259, 261, 765 S.E.2d 911 (2014) ; Joyner v. State , 280 Ga. 37, 38-39, 622 S.E.2d 319 (2005).

Menzies argues that because she did not personally obtain, carry, or fire a gun, and because there was no testimony stating that Menzies saw Edwards's gun before the robbery, the State failed to prove that she possessed or used a weapon as required to prove each of the predicate felonies for the felony murder charge (attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime). But under Georgia law, Menzies may be charged and convicted as a party to those crimes if the evidence shows that she intentionally assisted, supported, or encouraged others in committing them. See OCGA § 16-2-20 (a person who "[i]ntentionally aids or abets in the commission of the crime" or "[i]ntentionally advises, encourages, hires, counsels, or procures another to commit the crime" is a party to the crime and may be charged with and convicted of it); Menefee v. State , 301 Ga. 505, 508, 801 S.E.2d 782 (2017). And when a group of individuals join together to plan and commit a crime, each member of the criminal plot is responsible for the acts of the others—regardless of whether a particular act was part of the original plan—as long as such acts were "naturally or necessarily done" in the execution or furtherance of the common purpose. Williams v. State , 276 Ga. 384, 385-386, 578 S.E.2d 858 (2003) ; see also Lebis v. State , 302 Ga. 750, 757-758, 808 S.E.2d 724 (2017).

Here, the evidence showed that Menzies planned the robbery, enlisted the others to help, and arranged the...