Pardue v. State, A94A1233

• Decision Date: 21 September 1994
• Docket Number: No. A94A1233,A94A1233
• Citation: 214 Ga.App. 690,448 S.E.2d 768
• Parties: PARDUE v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 768

448 S.E.2d 768

214 Ga.App. 690

PARDUE v. The STATE.

No. A94A1233.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Sept. 21, 1994.

Richard B. Thurman, Jasper, for appellant.

Roger Queen, Dist. Atty., for appellee.

SMITH, Judge.

William Douglas Pardue was charged by accusation with the offenses of simple battery, OCGA § 16-5-23, and theft by shoplifting, OCGA § 16-8-14. The accusation was later amended to change the shoplifting charge to theft by taking, OCGA § 16-8-2. In a jury trial, the court directed a verdict on the theft charge, and the jury found Pardue guilty of simple battery. He appeals, contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict as to this count. We affirm.

Pardue testified at trial that on November 28, 1992, he was on his way home from work about 5:30 p.m. when he saw a disabled truck at the side of the road. He recognized the driver, Jeff Dodd, whom he had not seen in approximately six years, and stopped to pick him up. He took Dodd home with him to see his family and his new house. When he was taking Dodd back to his home, Dodd asked him if he would stop at a convenience store so Dodd could buy a six-pack of beer. He did so, and he stayed in the car while Dodd went into the store to buy the beer. When Dodd returned, he was followed by another man, who pulled him out of the car and wrestled him to the ground. Pardue "hollered for him to quit, to get off of him" because he thought "he was going to kill my friend." The man did not release Dodd, however, and Pardue testified he struck him on the back of the head to get him to do so.

Sergeant First Class Grady Anthony Gayton of the Georgia National Guard testified that between 11:30 p.m. and midnight he left his home and went to a convenience store to buy soft drinks. A man later identified as Dodd was in front of him at the checkout counter. He heard Dodd arguing with the clerk about a six-pack of beer, which the clerk was insisting she could not sell to Dodd because it was after 11:45 p.m. After this, Gayton heard Dodd ask for a pack of cigarettes, then saw him grab the beer and run out the door. He chased Dodd, who jumped into the window of the waiting car. Dodd hit him, and he pulled Dodd out of the car, flipped him over in the air, and landed on top of him. Pardue then came over and "said something ... it may have been let him loose or let him go or something like that and he begin to hit me in the back of the head around the temple over my ear and behind the head here." Gayton testified that Pardue hit him "no less than five times, maybe six."

Pardue contends his ...