Russell v. State
| Citation | 848 S.E.2d 404,309 Ga. 772 |
| Decision Date | 08 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | S20A0910 |
| Parties | RUSSELL v. The STATE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
Amanda Gaddis Speights, Speights Law, PC, 360 West Main Street, Canton, Georgia 30114, Attorneys for the Appellant.
Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Elizabeth Rosenwasser, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Cliff Head, A.D.A., Shannon Glover Wallace, District Attorney, Cherokee County District Attorney's Office, 90 North Street, Suite 390, Canton, Georgia 30114, Rachel Marie Ashe, Cherokee County Office of the Solicitor General, 100 North Street, Canton, Georgia 30114, Attorneys for the Appellee.
Michael Keith Russell was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Christy Waller.1 Russell asserts four enumerations of error: (1) that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statements to police; (2) that the trial court erred in failing to properly instruct the jury in its preliminary jury charge; (3) that Russell received constitutionally ineffective assistance of trial counsel when his counsel failed to object to that charge; and (4) that the trial court erred in failing to merge his remaining aggravated assault conviction under Count 4 into his conviction for malice murder. Russell also notes that his sentence contains a scrivener's error, sentencing him under Count 5 for aggravated assault , when he was actually charged with aggravated battery. Although we agree that the trial court committed sentencing errors and accordingly vacate Russell's sentence under Count 4 and remand for correction of the scrivener's error in Count 5, we otherwise affirm.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial shows that in 2016, Russell moved with Waller and Waller's 11-year-old son, B. W., to an apartment in Woodstock, where B. W. was home-schooled. Waller's 17-year-old daughter, P. W., lived with friends so she could keep attending the same high school. On March 3, 2017, the day of the murder, B. W. slept late, and around midday, Russell, looking like he "had taken a lot of drugs" and "had pulled his hair out," came into B. W.’s room to let B. W. know that he was leaving the apartment. Russell told B. W. that Waller was "going to be gone."
After B. W. heard Russell leave, he decided to stay in his room, and because B. W. felt "uncomfortable," he sent P. W. a series of three to four Snapchat messages asking her to come pick him up. P. W. agreed to come get him after school. When P. W. arrived with two friends at around 4:15 p.m., they discovered the apartment in disarray, with furniture overturned, broken electronics scattered, and the water in the kitchen sink running and overflowing onto the floor. They found B. W. playing a video game in his room with headphones on, and upon further investigation, they discovered Waller's body wrapped in a comforter in her bedroom. P. W. called 911, and the four young people left the apartment.
Law enforcement officers from the Woodstock Police Department and the GBI arrived shortly thereafter to begin their joint investigation. Around 10:30 p.m., while the investigators were awaiting a warrant to search the apartment, Russell arrived on the scene driving Waller's car. He was immediately arrested. At the time of his arrest, Russell spontaneously apologized and asked if Waller and B. W. were okay. Russell also said he had come back to the apartment to commit suicide, but that God must not have wanted him to kill himself because the police were on the scene.2
After receiving a Miranda3 warning, Russell indicated that he understood his rights and wanted to talk. Russell was interviewed in a GBI vehicle on the scene by Sergeant Preston Hall, a Woodstock Police detective, and GBI Special Agent Amanda Duttry (the "first interview"). During that interview, Russell admitted that he grabbed Waller by the throat with both hands, threw her to their bed, and held her there by the throat with his left hand for a short while. He also admitted hitting her three times, but he denied killing her. Russell said that Waller was coherent after he hit her, but she then put something in her mouth that made her unresponsive. Russell said Waller was breathing, however, when he left the apartment. Two hours into the interview, Russell invoked his right to counsel, and the detectives stopped the interview. An audio recording of that interview was played for the jury at trial ("Statement 1").
A short time later, while Russell was awaiting transport from the scene under the supervision of GBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Walsingham, Russell spontaneously said that he wanted to speak to the interviewing officers again to correct what he had told them earlier. He wanted to tell them that he had done it Walsingham captured this statement on his pocket recorder, and that audio recording was played for the jury ("Statement 2").
Russell then was transported to the Woodstock Police Department, where he was interviewed a second time by Agent Duttry and Officer Manuel Barajas, another Woodstock Police detective (the "second interview"). Before conducting that interview, Agent Duttry again read Russell his rights under Miranda from a waiver form. Russell stated that he understood his rights and signed the waiver form. During that interview, Russell said that he had lied to investigators in the earlier interview and that Waller never put anything in her mouth. To the contrary, Russell said Waller became unresponsive after he hit her the third time. He confirmed that he had become angry, grabbed Waller by the throat with two hands, held her down with one hand, and when she tried to scoot away from him, he hit her three times, until blood splattered on the wall. About two hours into that interview, Russell again invoked his right to counsel. A video recording of the second interview was played for the jury at trial ("Statement 3").
Early on the morning of March 4, 2017, approximately one-and-a-half to two hours after the second interview concluded, Russell was transported to the Cherokee County Jail4 in a patrol car driven by Woodstock Police Officer Matthew Carroll. During the drive, the two engaged in a conversation about family and religion, and Russell spontaneously stated that he The entire trip between the Woodstock Police Department and the jail was recorded on video, and that recording was played for the jury at trial ("Statement 4").
A crime scene investigator testified that Waller's body was discovered lying on her back, covered in a comforter. Further investigation showed that Waller's hands were bound behind her back with a red nylon-type strap, and a similar red strap was discovered on one of her legs. The medical examiner testified that Waller had been beaten on her arms, legs, chest, face, and head, with hands, tools, or other objects, leaving numerous bruises, abrasions, and lacerations. She had also been strangled with either a ligature or hands, which resulted in her death. A computer circuit board and a handyman tool taken from the crime scene had evidence of Waller's blood, as well as Russell's DNA. Waller's DNA was also found on clothing collected from Russell at the jail.
The State presented additional testimony showing that in the days leading up to the murder, Russell and Waller had been arguing, and on one occasion, Russell had struck and put his hands on Waller, leaving bruises and other marks. B. W. testified that in the weeks before Waller's death, he had seen Russell spit on, slap, choke, push, shove, and hit Waller.
Although Russell has not challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, consistent with our customary practice in murder cases,5 we have reviewed the record and conclude that the evidence as summarized above was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Russell was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted and sentenced. See Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B), 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
2. Russell asserts that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the statements he made to law enforcement because (a) the statements were not made voluntarily as he was under the influence of methamphetamine and (b) he was questioned after he invoked his right to counsel.
In reviewing the trial court's denial of Russell's motion to suppress, "we accept the trial court's findings of fact and credibility determinations unless they are clearly erroneous; but where controlling facts are not in dispute, such as those facts discernible from a videotape, our review is de novo." Thomas v. State , 308 Ga. 26, 29 (2) (a), 838 S.E.2d 801 (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). See also Dawson v. State , 308 Ga. 613, 619 (3), 842 S.E.2d 875 (2020).
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