Milinavicius v. State
| Citation | 12 FCDR 197,290 Ga. 374,721 S.E.2d 843 |
| Decision Date | 23 January 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. S11A1281.,S11A1281. |
| Parties | MILINAVICIUS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Brian Steel, Atlanta, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Elizabeth A. Baker, Paige Reese Whitaker, Marc A. Mallon, Asst. Dist. Attys., Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Dana Elizabeth Weinberger, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
On July 26, 2007, the police were called to the business of appellant Rolandas Milinavicius in East Point (Fulton County), Georgia. Inside the building, authorities found the bodies of Ms. Inga Contreras and Mr. Martynas Simokaitis, who were both employees of appellant.1 Both victims were shot in the head. In addition, Mr. Simokaitis had eight bullet wounds to his body. Several projectiles and casings were located at the scene and were determined to have been shot from the same .9mm caliber weapon. The authorities obtained a search warrant which allowed them to confiscate the video surveillance tape of the building. On the day the bodies were discovered, the video surveillance tape showed appellant and the two victims entering the building, but only showed appellant exiting. When appellant last exited the building, he drove away in Ms. Contreras's vehicle. Upon leaving his workplace, appellant met his wife and son and took his son home. He instructed his wife to check things out at his office and, if necessary, to call the police. Appellant then drove to Lake Lanier and camped in the woods. On July 27, 2007, authorities discovered Ms. Contreras's vehicle near Lake Lanier and, close by, they also discovered shoes which were similar to those worn by appellant in the surveillance video. Police interviewed appellant's friend who reported to police that appellant contacted him after the shootings and told the friend that he “did it.” The State also proffered some evidence that appellant was in debt and the victims had recently requested money from him.2 Two days after the shootings, on July 28, 2007, appellant turned himself in to police.
At trial, appellant took the stand and asserted a claim of self-defense. Specifically, appellant testified that, on the day in question, Mr. Simokaitis shot at him twice using a .9mm Smith & Wesson handgun that appellant had purchased approximately one month prior to the shootings, but that the shots missed appellant. When the gun jammed, appellant stated he was able to take it away from Mr. Simokaitis. Appellant then followed Mr. Simokaitis to another room where appellant says Mr. Simokaitis punched him and then attacked him with a chair. As Mr. Simokaitis attacked him with a chair, appellant said he shot at the victim multiple times. Appellant did not testify that he shot Ms. Contreras, but implied that she had been shot by Mr. Simokaitis.
1. 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 contends that his in-custody statements to police should have been suppressed because his waiver of his Miranda 3 rights was not knowing and voluntary due to the fact that he is a Lithuanian immigrant and he did not sufficiently comprehend his interrogators who spoke to him in English and who did not provide an interpreter.4 In ruling on the admissibility of an in-custody statement, the trial court must look to the totality of the circumstances to decide whether the statement was made freely and voluntarily. Pineda v. State, 287 Ga.App. 200(1), 651 S.E.2d 148 (2007). The trial court's factual findings and credibility determinations regarding the admissibility of in-custody statements will be upheld on appeal unless clearly erroneous. Nguyen v. State, 273 Ga. 389, 395, 543 S.E.2d 5 (2001). Generally, if there is evidence supporting the trial court's decision to admit statements, it will be upheld on appeal. Pineda v. State, 287 Ga.App. at 202, 651 S.E.2d 148.
At the pre-trial Jackson–Denno5 hearing, appellant proffered a witness who testified that appellant had been in the United States for five years, that appellant only spoke Lithuanian at home and at work, that appellant watched television in Russian rather than in English, and that appellant had the witness interpret for him in English when necessary. The defense also presented an expert who taught English as a second language. She reviewed the videotape of appellant's in-custody interview and testified that she believed appellant did not understand his Miranda rights. The police officer who interviewed appellant also testified and stated that he answered all of appellant's questions during the custodial interview, that he read the rights slowly to appellant, that appellant said he understood, and that appellant agreed to talk to authorities without a lawyer. In addition, the trial court was able to view the videotaped interrogation. Based on the evidence presented, the trial court concluded that appellant knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and, as a result, the videotape of appellant's in-custody interrogation was played to the trial jury over appellant's objection. In its order disposing of appellant's motion for new trial, the trial court held that, in the totality of the circumstances, appellant's custodial statements were admissible.
Since the trial court applied the correct legal standard, appellant is essentially requesting that this Court reject the trial court's findings of fact and credibility determinations. This we cannot do since the trial court's decision was supported by record evidence. Appellant knew enough about American criminal procedure to turn himself in to police. During the interrogation, officers answered appellant's questions and appellant told them that he understood what was being said to him. At no time did appellant invoke his right to silence or right to counsel, but only told authorities he was tired and wanted to see a doctor in order to be medicated for stress. In addition, the trial court, as the factfinder, had the discretion not to credit the opinions of appellant's expert and to weigh her expert opinion less heavily than the police officer's testimony about appellant's waiver of his Miranda rights. See Tate v. State, 264 Ga. 53(3), 440 S.E.2d 646 (1994). The trial court's decision was not clearly erroneous.
3. Appellant complains that his constitutional rights were violated because he was allegedly absent from the courtroom when the attorneys were having a discussion with the judge about the possibility of replacing a juror who had failed to return to complete his service. Appellant admits he was present when the missing juror was actually excused by the trial court, but opines that he was not present for the prior discussion about excusing the juror. The trial transcript shows that, on the day in question, the trial court inquired as to whether the appellant was dressed for court 6 and when he confirmed appellant was dressed, the trial court ordered the appellant to be brought into the courtroom. The trial court then discussed with the attorneys the missing juror as well as issues concerning jury instructions. The trial court then took a short recess. At the end of the recess,...
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...99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). See also Brown v. State, 291 Ga. 892, 894(1), 734 S.E.2d 23 (2012); Milinavicius v. State, 290 Ga. 374, 376(1), 721 S.E.2d 843 (2012). [292 Ga. 846]2. We next consider whether the trial court erred when it limited the cross-examination of Cheru as to a ......
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Carson v. State
...if there is evidence supporting the trial court's decision to admit statements, it will be upheld on appeal. Milinavicius v. State , 290 Ga. 374, 375 (2), 721 S.E.2d 843 (2012) (citations omitted).At the pre-trial Jackson - Denno7 hearing, the trial court considered Carson's motion to exclu......
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...(Footnote and punctuation omitted.) Buruca v. State, 278 Ga.App. 650, 653(2), 629 S.E.2d 438 (2006). See also Milinavicius v. State, 290 Ga. 374, 378(4), 721 S.E.2d 843 (2012) (where charge as a whole fairly represented the issue of justification failure to use certain words in charge prese......
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Williams v. State
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