Saleem v. State, 67865
| Decision Date | 23 February 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 67865,67865 |
| Citation | 315 S.E.2d 487,169 Ga.App. 952 |
| Parties | SALEEM et al. v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Ronnie A. Wheeler, Ocilla, for appellants.
Gary C. Christy, Dist. Atty., Richard E. Thomas, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.
The appellants, Mustaf Nasir Saleem and Najee Diaab, were jointly tried and convicted of two counts of kidnapping with bodily injury, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of theft by taking. On appeal, they contend that the trial court erred in overruling their objections to evidence tending to show their involvement in a separate offense for which they were not on trial. Appellant Diaab further contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for severance.
Two highway travelers were beaten, robbed at gunpoint, bound in handcuffs, and gagged with adhesive tape early on the morning of December 27, 1982, as they entered the men's room at a rest area located on I-75 in Dooly County, Georgia. The assailants were described as three black males dressed in green army fatigues, at least one of whom was wearing surgical gloves. A $100 bill, a $2 bill, and a set of keys were taken from the first victim, and the assailants left the scene driving his truck. The other victim lost a watch and $400 in $20 bills.
Within minutes, law enforcement authorities were notified of the robbery, and a radio lookout was broadcast for the truck. Shortly thereafter, a Unadilla police officer spotted the truck traveling northbound on I-75 and began following it at a distance. The truck soon pulled over onto the shoulder; and its three occupants, one of whom was carrying a pistol, were observed fleeing into the countryside on foot.
A search of the truck resulted in the discovery of a surgical glove, a loaded shotgun, and assorted rounds of ammunition. The shotgun was shown to have been purchased by appellant Diaab on December 10, 1982, 17 days prior to the robbery. The victims identified it at trial as being similar in appearance to a shotgun used in the robbery.
Later that day, appellant Diaab and a suspect named Philipe Rogers were separately apprehended by a search party in a nearby wooded area. Both were wearing army fatigues; and a $100 bill, a $2 bill, seventeen $20 bills, and a handcuff key were recovered from Rogers' person. The handcuff key fit the handcuffs which had been used to bind the two victims at the rest area. Rogers subsequently escaped from custody and was still at large at the time of the trial.
Appellant Saleem was apprehended in nearby Unadilla that same morning, shortly after he had attempted to purchase a bus ticket to Atlanta with an American Express card. He, too, was wearing army fatigues; and he was in possession of the American Express card and a Crown Petroleum credit card issued in the name of Argene Jones. Saleem explained to police that he had found these credit cards outside a nightclub in Atlanta.
On the day following these events, it was discovered that Argene Jones' car had been abandoned at the rest area where the crimes had occurred. Mr. Jones was a salesman for a company which sold hospital supplies such as surgical gloves and adhesive tape; and his car contained adhesive tape similar to that which had been used to gag the victims. Mr. Jones' wife testified that her husband...
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Thomas v. State
...effect of the evidence against the former was viewed as an important factor in the latter's conviction." Saleem v. State, 169 Ga.App. 952, 954(2), 315 S.E.2d 487 (1984). In this case, the evidence against Taborn was indeed overwhelming, but the evidence against Thomas was equally compelling......
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