Rhodes v. State
| Decision Date | 19 September 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. S05A0787.,S05A0787. |
| Parties | RHODES v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Hugh D. Ridgway, III, Eatonton, for Appellant.
Fredric D. Bright, Dist. Atty., Gregory L. Bushway, Asst. Dist. Atty., Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Raina J. Nadler, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Appellee.
Appellant Tammie Lynn Rhodes was convicted of two counts of felony murder and one count of cruelty to children in the beating death of her son, Jacob.1 She was sentenced to concurrent life sentences on the felony murder counts and a consecutive twenty-year sentence for cruelty to children. She asserts on appeal that the trial court erred in denying her motion to sever and in admitting similar transaction evidence. We affirm; however, because Rhodes could be sentenced as to either count of felony murder, but not both, we vacate and remand for resentencing.
1. The evidence authorized the jury to find that in November 2000 Rhodes and her three sons moved in with her boyfriend, co-defendant Darrell Collum, and his three daughters. Rhodes and Collum met over the internet and had known each other for only a short time. Within days of moving into Collum's home, 20-month-old Jacob Rhodes started receiving bruises to his head and body. Thereafter, Jacob's leg was fractured to the extent that he could neither walk nor wear a shoe, and he suffered a broken rib. Although both injuries would have been extremely painful, Jacob received no medical attention.
The day before he died, Jacob was seen with new bruises and a black eye, injuries so severe they caused at least one witness to call Rhodes and Collum and demand that they take the child to a doctor. They refused. That evening, Rhodes noticed Jacob's head was swelling. Instead of seeking medical attention, she went to the store to get ice, a steak, and soft drinks. Upon returning home, she and Collum placed Jacob on the couch with several bags of ice around his head and the steak over his face in an attempt to stop the swelling and bruising. Jacob remained in this position until the next afternoon when he was discovered shivering and visibly cold, the ice having melted all around him. At this time, Jacob's hands were clenched shut and his feet were visibly stiff and extended. Again, rather than seek medical attention, Rhodes left to buy a heating pad, which she used to try to warm Jacob. Hours later, after Jacob began vomiting a brown substance and gasping for air, Rhodes and Collum called 911. Despite efforts to resuscitate him, Jacob was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The medical examiner testified that Jacob had been severely beaten and ultimately died of blunt force trauma injuries to the head. At the time of his death, Jacob's head, face, and scrotum were severely swollen and bruised. He had extensive hemorrhaging and injuries to the brain, bruising to the eyes, abrasions to the chin and mouth and blunt force injuries to the collarbone, chest, abdomen, legs, and arms. Expert testimony revealed that Jacob might have survived had he received appropriate medical attention. Although Rhodes blamed her six- and four-year-old sons for Jacob's injuries, experts opined that the severity of Jacob's injuries were the result of an "adult strength" force.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, we conclude the evidence was sufficient to enable any rational trier of fact to find Rhodes guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
2. The jury found Rhodes guilty of two counts of felony murder (one predicated on maliciously causing cruel and excessive pain to Jacob by injuring him and one predicated on causing cruel and excessive pain to Jacob by willfully failing and refusing to seek medical attention for his injuries), OCGA § 16-5-1(c), and cruelty to children in the first degree for maliciously causing cruel and excessive pain to Jacob by injuring him. OCGA § 16-5-70(b). The trial court sentenced Rhodes to two concurrent life sentences on the felony murder counts. However, Rhodes may not be convicted on both felony murder counts when only one person was killed because such action improperly subjects her to multiple convictions and punishments for one crime. OCGA § 16-1-7(a); Smith v. State, 272 Ga. 874(6)(c), 536 S.E.2d 514 (2000). Accordingly, we vacate Rhodes' sentence and remand this case for resentencing in the discretion of the trial court. See Harris v. State, 274 Ga. 835(2), 561 S.E.2d 73 (2002); McClellan v. State, 274 Ga. 819(1), 561 S.E.2d 82 (2002). As in McClellan, while Rhodes may not be sentenced on both felony murder counts, she may again be sentenced on the separately-indicted cruelty to children charge if it does not merge by law or by fact into the felony murder conviction for which she is sentenced. Id. at 821, n. 2, 561 S.E.2d 82.
3. Rhodes contends that the trial court erred by failing to grant her motion to sever her trial from that of co-defendant Collum. See OCGA § 17-8-4. "It is incumbent upon the defendant who seeks a severance to show clearly that [s]he will be prejudiced by a joint trial, and in the absence of such a showing, the trial court's denial of a severance motion will not be disturbed." (Footnote omitted.) Green v. State, 274 Ga. 686, 688(2), 558 S.E.2d 707 (2002). Factors to be considered by the trial court...
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