Naples v. State

• Decision Date: 10 February 2020
• Docket Number: S19A1571
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court
• Parties: NAPLES v. The STATE.

308 Ga. 43

838 S.E.2d 780

NAPLES

v.The STATE.

S19A1571

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: February 10, 2020

Barry M. Hazen, 2060 Equitable Building, 100 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, for Appellant.

Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Mark Samuel Lindemann, Assistant Attorney General, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Rachelle L. Carnesale, Shannon Glover Wallace, District Attorney, Cliff Head, A.D.A., CHEROKEE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, 90 North Street, Suite 390, Canton, Georgia 30114-2754, for Appellee.

Blackwell, Justice.

Michael Naples was tried by a Cherokee County jury and convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the death of 17-month-old Kaylee Johnson. Naples appeals, contending that the trial court erred when it admitted "other acts" evidence under OCGA § 24-4-404 (b) ("Rule 404 (b)") and that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.¹

1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial shows that Jamie Beck and her two daughters—Kaylee and K.B.—went to Naples's house on October 13, 2012, and stayed overnight. Around 2:00 on the morning of October 14, Beck found Kaylee lying unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement. Beck called 911, and Kaylee was taken to the hospital, where she was found to have a skull fracture

and inoperable brain swelling that led to her death. Subsequent investigation revealed that Naples caused the fatal injury to Kaylee, either by slamming her head against a hard object or throwing her down the stairs.

The State presented extensive testimony about the relationship between Naples and Beck, as well as the series of events that led up to Kaylee's death. This testimony shows that Naples and Beck began dating in the summer of 2012, while both were married to other people. At that time, Beck was married to Nathan Johnson—the father of Kaylee and K.B.—but he was incarcerated. Naples then was married to Mandy Naples—his second wife with whom he had a seven-year-old son, G.N.—but Naples and Mandy were separated. Beck tried to conceal her relationship with Naples from her parents and other family members. Sometime in August or September 2012, Beck and her two daughters began staying at Naples's house periodically.

Kaylee was described as a "clingy" child who constantly sought attention from Beck, and Naples complained to Beck that she "held [Kaylee] too much." During the time that Naples and Beck were together, some of Beck's family noticed that Kaylee was bruised and had lost some hair, and they expressed concerns to Beck. Near the beginning of October 2012, Johnson was released from prison. Naples was jealous of Johnson and wanted Beck to divorce Johnson as quickly as possible. Only days before Kaylee's fatal injury, Naples told Beck that he "couldn't handle" Beck talking to Johnson, and Beck decided to break up with Naples.

On the morning of Saturday, October 13, Beck went to Naples's house to pick up her and the girls’ belongings. While there, she joked with Naples that she wanted to hit him. He then started smacking her in the face and stomach (despite her telling him to stop), and he eventually pinned her on the bed while holding her hands. He told her to hit him, which she did, and he said, "There, you did it," and got off her. Beck was confused and "freak[ed] out" by this episode; she had not previously seen Naples behave in such a way. A short time later, as Beck was putting the girls’ clothes in her car, Naples came out and called her a "liar and a slut" in front of G.N., and he also told G.N. to say goodbye to Beck and the girls because "he was never going to see [them] again." Despite Naples's behavior, Beck agreed to go with him and the children—Kaylee, K.B., and G.N.—that day on a prearranged trip to an apple festival in Ellijay, where they met up with some of Beck's relatives.² After the festival, Beck agreed to spend the night at Naples's house.

Beck testified that the girls and G.N. went to bed around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Beck then took a shower for about 15 to 20 minutes, and when she walked out of the bathroom, she saw that the doors to the girls’ bedroom and G.N.’s bedroom were closed. Beck went into the master bedroom without checking on the girls. Shortly afterward, Naples came into the bedroom and told Beck that she "was going to drink." Beck initially refused, but Naples insisted and poured her shots of tequila, which she drank while sitting on the floor in front of the bed. As Beck recounted, Naples "would pour the shots, and then he would put them up to my mouth to try and get me to ... It was weird. It was very forceful." Beck and Naples then had sex and went to bed.

During the night, G.N. walked into their bedroom, complaining that he had a bad dream and heard something in his closet. Naples allowed G.N. to get into bed with them. Naples then again had sex with Beck, after which he asked her to get him some water. When Beck walked out of the master bedroom, she saw that the children's bedroom doors were open and that the girls were not in their room. She looked through the open basement door and saw Kaylee lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Beck immediately went to Kaylee, picked her up, and carried her up the stairs. She called for Naples, and he came into the doorway just as Beck was about halfway up the stairs.³ Kaylee appeared to be asleep but "wouldn't move." Emergency personnel were called, and Kaylee was taken to the hospital.

Kaylee was examined by several medical professionals, including a pediatrician who specialized in child abuse. These medical professionals testified that Kaylee's head injury

was far more extensive than anything that could be expected from a child falling down the stairs. Moreover, Kaylee had other injuries, including bruises around her neck consistent with choking and small red spots on the back of her head indicating that hair had been yanked out. These injuries were inconsistent with a fall. X-rays also revealed a rib fracture that was in the healing phase and a newer fracture on her right leg. Several days after arriving at the hospital, Kaylee was declared brain dead and taken off life support.

Naples was arrested almost a year after Kaylee's death. While in jail, he became good friends with another inmate, David Matthews, who was a "jailhouse lawyer" of sorts. Naples sought advice from Matthews about his case and shared highly incriminating details about Kaylee's death. According to Matthews, Naples described the incident as follows. On the night in question, Naples and Beck had a fight. Naples pushed Beck up against a wall, and Beck stormed off and went to bed. Naples then became "very aggravated" because Beck had left him with the responsibility of putting the three children to bed. With Kaylee in his arms, Naples put K.B. to bed in the basement, where she sometimes slept. He then carried Kaylee back out of the basement, but encountered some trouble locking the child safety gate at the top of the stairs. Kaylee was "fussy and tired" and "crying real loud in his ears," so Naples "reached over and covered her mouth with one of his hands, and then grabbed at her neck, like upper neck/chin area, and turned her head away, and then yelled at her [to] shut up." Naples then put Kaylee down to make it easier to shut the gate, but Kaylee started "kicking at him." At that point, Naples told Matthews, he "snapped" and "lost it." He picked up Kaylee and shook her, yelled at her, and threw her down the stairs, "like a toss." Naples watched Kaylee tumble down the stairs and hit her head on one of the steps before landing on the concrete floor. Because Kaylee was crying, Naples did not think she was "hurt too bad." So he went back to the bedroom to finish his argument with Beck, after which they had "rough make-up sex."

Matthews testified that Naples consulted him about "accident defenses, alibis, bent of mind, temporary insanity," and other defenses, and that Naples's "main focus was trying to find how he could make this seem like an accident." Referencing the nearly one-year delay between Kaylee's death and his arrest, Naples told Matthews that, after about six months, "I thought I'd got away with it." Matthews also testified that Naples talked to him about attempts to hide the crime and the possibility of blaming Kaylee's death on Beck, G.N., or K.B. According to Matthews, Naples even considered hiding Kaylee's body in the woods.

Another inmate testified that Naples told him in jail that, on the night in question, Kaylee "was crying and getting on everybody's nerves," and when Naples tried to get her "away from the staircase ... he accidentally knocked her down the stairs."

Naples testified in his own defense, asserting that he did nothing to harm Kaylee. On cross-examination, he also testified that he did not think that anyone else in the house hurt Kaylee. He said he did not know how Kaylee sustained a skull fracture

or other injuries.⁴

Naples does not dispute that the evidence is sufficient to sustain his convictions. But consistent with our usual practice in murder cases, we independently have reviewed the record to assess the legal sufficiency of the evidence. We conclude that the evidence presented at trial, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Naples was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B), 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Naples argues that the trial court erred when it admitted other-acts evidence under Rule 404 (b) that showed Naples's violent behavior toward his first wife (Amanda Tollefson), his daughter with his first wife (A.T.), his first wife's siste...