Owens v. State

• Decision Date: 26 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. S09A2068.,S09A2068.
• Citation: 693 S.E.2d 490,286 Ga. 821
• Parties: OWENSv.STATE.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

286 Ga. 821

693 S.E.2d 490

OWENSv.STATE.

No. S09A2068.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

March 26, 2010.

Smith, Gambrell & Russell, Edward H. Wasmuth, Jr., Atlanta, for appellant.

Peter J. Skandalakis, District Attorney, Lynda S. Caldwell, Assistant District Attorney, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Elizabeth A. Harris, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice.

Appellant Charles Edward Owens appeals his conviction of malice murder in connection with the 1981 shooting death of Rebecca Heath. ¹ Finding no error, we affirm.

1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence established as follows. The victim was discovered in the Heaths' car on Smokey Road in Troup County, Georgia at approximately 11:00 a.m. on August 31, 1981 by an employee of the Troup County Electric Membership Corporation, who noticed a green Oldsmobile on the side of the road with its front fender against a tree, approached the car to help, observed the victim, who was not moving, and called the Sheriff's Department. In addition to the Oldsmobile's tire tracks, the witness also observed another set of tire tracks in close proximity, as if the second car had been parked in front of the Oldsmobile. The responding police officer determined that the victim was dead and had been so for no more than two to three hours. A bullet, later determined to be from a .32 caliber gun, had shattered her eyeball and lodged in her brain. At the time of her death, the victim was pregnant with a nearly full term healthy baby boy.

At the time of the crime, the victim and husband Larry Heath were living on a dead-end street in Phenix City, Alabama. A neighbor of the Heaths testified that at approximately 7:15 a.m. on August 31, he noticed a van and the Heaths' green Oldsmobile pulling onto their street from an adjacent state road.

A witness who lived on Smokey Road, where the victim's body was discovered, testified that, at approximately 9:00 a.m. on August 31, as he was driving down Smokey Road, he observed a whitish-blue Mustang pull out of a pulpwood road, which he deemed unusual; as soon as the driver saw the witness, the car sped away. The witness then passed a green car about 35 feet from the side of the road with its headlights on and engine idling.

Another witness testified that, on August 24, 1981, he observed Larry Heath transact unknown business with three men who arrived at Heath's workplace in a white Mustang. The witness later identified two of the men as appellant and Lumpkin. During the transaction, the witness observed Heath retrieve a revolver, load it, and return it to a desk drawer.

Jerry Heath, Larry Heath's brother, testified as part of a plea deal with authorities in Alabama.² He testified that, around the beginning of August 1981, his brother asked him whether he knew of anyone who would agree to kill someone for him. Jerry suggested contacting appellant, also known as “Slim,” whom Jerry had known for approximately ten years. Jerry also testified that on various occasions he had been to appellant's apartment, where he had seen Lumpkin, who drove a white Mustang and owned a .32 caliber revolver. Approximately two weeks after giving Larry appellant's name, Jerry saw Larry and Lumpkin at appellant's apartment. Larry stated during the visit that if he could not find someone to help him, he was going to “kill her himself.”

Williams also testified for the State as part of a deal with Alabama authorities.³ He testified that, in August 1981, he met at appellant's apartment with appellant and Lumpkin about killing Larry's girlfriend. Appellant gave Williams a gun, which Williams identified at trial, and Williams told appellant he would think about it. Williams, Lumpkin, and appellant subsequently drove in a white Mustang belonging to Lumpkin to meet with Larry at his workplace, where Larry reiterated his request for help in killing his girlfriend, gave Williams $100, and gave appellant a gun. Williams further testified that appellant, Lumpkin, and Larry had instructed him to kill the occupant of a certain green car in the parking lot of a LaGrange shopping mall and make it appear to have been a robbery. However, Williams testified, he did not want to commit the murder, had been interested only in the money and the gun, did not carry out the plan, and sold the gun at a grocery store with someone named Shorty. At some later time, appellant and Lumpkin told him in regard to the murder that it was “too late.”

A grocery store owner doing business in Phenix City testified that, in August 1981, he purchased a .357 Magnum from a black man named Shorty, who purported to be selling it for his companion, whom the witness later identified as Williams.

Upon questioning by investigators after his arrest, appellant, who went by the nickname “Slim,” admitted that he had taken money from Larry Heath but claimed the money was intended for someone else whom he would not identify. Appellant also admitted giving Williams a gun at his apartment approximately two weeks before the murder and corroborated various details regarding the meeting at Larry's workplace, including the exchange of money between Larry and Williams. Appellant also claimed that on the morning of the murder, he, driving the white Mustang, and another black male, driving the Heaths' car, followed Larry, who was driving a truck, to Phenix City, but that he had never gone to the Heath house and instead waited nearby until he saw the Heath car pull out onto the highway, which he followed until losing it in traffic. He further claimed he had no knowledge of what happened at the Heath home that morning or that the purpose of the excursion was to murder Rebecca Heath.

Lumpkin also gave a series of statements after his arrest, in which he admitted that he, Williams, and another black male had gone to see a man named Larry at his workplace and that the other black male had informed him that Larry wanted his wife killed. Lumpkin also stated that the other black male had asked him to find someone to do the job, and that Lumpkin had asked Williams. Lumpkin further stated that the job was to be done for $3,000.

Denise Lambert, who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder in both Georgia and Alabama and agreed to cooperate with authorities, testified that she had been dating Larry Heath for some time prior to the murder. She testified that Larry had told her he was unhappy in his marriage and planned to seek a divorce. A few days prior to the murder, Larry told Lambert he was upset because his wife had withdrawn a large sum of money from their bank account and that he planned to have her killed. On the eve of the murder, Larry brought his and the victim's two-year-old son to Lambert and asked that she watch him for the night. At 6:00 a.m. the next morning, he stopped by her home briefly, left, and then summoned her to meet him at a service station, where Larry got into her truck and began driving to the Heaths' home, followed by the Heaths' car and a white Mustang occupied by a black man, identified by Lambert as appellant. The Mustang and the Heath car remained at the Heath home; Larry, Lambert, and the child returned to the service station in the truck, and Lambert dropped Larry off at work. Later that day, a man identifying himself as “Slim” called Lambert demanding payment from her or Larry now that Larry had “gotten his wish” Lambert told Larry, who instructed Lambert to pay Slim with money Larry had given her. Lambert subsequently met with appellant and gave him the money.

“To warrant a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the proved facts shall not only be consistent with the hypothesis of guilt, but shall exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused.” OCGA § 24-4-6. Whether the evidence excludes other reasonable hypotheses is ordinarily a question for the jury, whose finding shall not be disturbed unless the verdict of guilt is unsupportable as a matter of law. Murray v. State, 271 Ga. 504(1), 521 S.E.2d 564 (1999). Here, the jury was authorized to find that appellant met with Larry Heath and other co-indictees on at least two occasions to discuss the murder of Rebecca Heath; that appellant accepted money from Larry Heath prior to the murder; that appellant instructed Williams on how to kill the victim; that appellant drove to the Heath home with Larry Heath and Lumpkin on the morning of the murder; and that appellant demanded and accepted money from Lambert as compensation for the murder. Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty of malice murder. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Appellant asserts that the significant delay in resolving his motion for new trial violated his right to due process. “This Court has recognized that substantial delays experienced during the criminal appellate process implicate due process rights. [Cits.]” Chatman v. Mancill, 280 Ga. 253, 256(2)(a), 626 S.E.2d 102 (2006). We assess claims involving appellate delay under the four factor analysis utilized for speedy trial claims set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), which examines, in determining whether a defendant's due process rights have been violated, the length of delay; the reason for delay; the defendant's assertion of his right; and the prejudice to the defendant. Chatman, supra, 280 Ga. at 256-257(2)(a), 626 S.E.2d 102.

(a) We agree with appellant that 25 years is an inordinate amount of time to await disposition of a motion for new trial. See Loadholt v. State, 286 Ga. 402(4), 687 S.E.2d 824 (2010) (nine-year delay between conviction and appeal deemed excessive); Chatman, supra, 280 Ga. at 257-258(2)(b), 626 S.E.2d 102 (eight-year delay between conviction and affirmance deemed excessive). This factor clearly weighs in appellant's favor.

(b) The...