Robinson v. State
| Citation | 486 S.E.2d 156,268 Ga. 175 |
| Decision Date | 30 June 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. S97A0872,S97A0872 |
| Parties | , 97 FCDR 2435 ROBINSON v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Megan C. DeVorsey, Fulton County Public Defender, Atlanta, for David Franklin Robinson.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., Dist. Atty., Angelica M. Woo, Asst. Atty. Gen., Department of
Law, Penny Alane Penn, Asst. Dist. Atty., Atlanta, Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Juliette W. Scales, Asst. Dist. Atty., Paula K. Smith, Asst. Atty. Gen., Atlanta, for the State.
David Robinson was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, burglary and aggravated assault in the death of Irvin Havens. He appeals from the denial of his amended motion for new trial. 1
1. The jury was authorized to find that on July 20, 1993 Robinson accompanied Caulder and Bell to Havens' home and that Havens was robbed. Three days later, on July 23, Havens was found dead at his home. A glass door in the home had been smashed in by a brick and a piece of rope and a pair of gloves were discovered near the victim's body. The house was in disarray and drops of blood were scattered throughout the house. An eight-inch knife Havens had utilized as a letter opener was missing from the home. An autopsy revealed that Havens had been strangled but that his death was a result of blunt force injuries to the head. Scrapes on his body indicated that he had engaged in a vigorous struggle before he died.
In the early morning hours of July 23, Robinson was admitted to the hospital with stab wounds in his stomach and left arm. The abdomen wound was caused by a knife with at least a six-inch blade. A week later, Robinson displayed his wounds to Bell and informed Bell that he had returned to Havens' home and that Havens had "cut him with a big knife," and that Robinson had attempted to beat Havens to death. DNA tests revealed that blood at the victim's home matched Robinson's blood. Robinson claimed he was not involved in the incident, maintaining instead that on the way to purchase cocaine he was surrounded by three men and stabbed.
We find the evidence sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Robinson guilty of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
2. Our review of the charge given to the jury taken as a whole reveals that the jury was properly instructed as to the State's burden of proof. The indictment charged Robinson with the offense of assault by striking and beating the victim with unknown objects. We find no merit in Robinson's sole enumeration of error that his conviction should be reversed because the indictment charged the particular manner in which he committed the aggravated assault and the trial court improperly expanded the indictment by including that language of OCGA § 16-5-21 whereby a person commits the offense of aggravated assault when he assaults another with the "intent to rob." Robinson contends that the expanded language of the charge permitted the jury to find him guilty of a form of the offense with which he was not charged. We disagree that the overbroad definition of aggravated assault in the charge was error. In instructing the jury, the...
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Gilliam v. State
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