Sheffield v. State
| Decision Date | 28 October 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 30385,30385 |
| Citation | 235 Ga. 507,220 S.E.2d 265 |
| Parties | Walter Harvey SHEFFIELD v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
James R. McGraw, East Point, for appellant.
Lewis R. Slaton, Dist. Atty., Joseph J. Drolet, Asst. Dist. Atty., Arthur K. Bolton, Atty. Gen., Harrison Kohler, Atlanta, for appellee.
Appellant was indicted and convicted of murder, arson in the first degree, aggravated battery and aggravated assault, receiving a sentence of life, two sentences of twenty years, and one sentence of ten years, respectively, all to run consecutively. Appellant's motion for new trial was overruled, and he now appeals.
1. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in trying him under one indictment while another indictment for the same offenses was pending. Appellant was tried and convicted under only one indictment, the other being nol prossed at the conclusion of appellant's trial.
The record discloses that appellant made no objection to the indictments before or during the trial. A demurrer to the indictment, motion to quash or plea in abatement must be entered before trial. Code Ann. § 27-1601; Peppers v. Balkcom, 218 Ga. 749, 130 S.E.2d 709 (1963); Burns v. State, 191 Ga. 60, 11 S.E.2d 350 (1940). Appellant therefore waived any alleged defects by going to trial under the indictment without complaint. Peppers, supra, 218 Ga. p. 751, 130 S.E.2d 709.
2, 3, 5. Appellant complains of evidence he claims was improperly admitted by the trial court although at no time during the trial did he object. The failure to object at trial to the admission of evidence precludes the objection on review. Clenney v. State, 229 Ga. 561(3), 192 S.E.2d 907 (1972); Roberts v. State, 228 Ga. 298, 185 S.E.2d 385 (1971); Joyner v. State, 208 Ga. 435, 67 S.E.2d 221 (1951).
4. Appellant enumerates as error the fact that he was questioned while in custody of the police before being given his rights under miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1965).
Appellant was taken into custody at his home, and only after arriving at the police station did he receive his Miranda rights. However, appellant is complaining of a harmless error since no confession or other incriminating evidence stemming from the failure to apprise him of his rights was used against him at trial. Under Milanda a criminal defendant's remedy for a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights is the exclusion from trial of any evidence obtained from him during his illegal detention. As the Supreme Court stated, 'The constitutional issue we decide . . . is the admissibility of statements obtained from a defendant questioned while in custody . . .' Miranda, supra, at 445, 86 S.Ct. at 1612.
Since no statement obtained fromappellant while in custody was offered into evidence, any error in the timely giving of Miranda rights was harmless. See Atkins v. Martin, 229 Ga. 815, 194 S.E.2d 463 (1972).
6. After the jury verdict of guilty on all four counts, the jury returned a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder, and the trial judge imposed two twenty-year sentences for arson and aggravated battery and a ten-year sentence for aggravated assault, all to run consecutively. Appellant contends that only the jury may decide whether sentences are to...
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Alderman v. State
...appeal. Reeves v. State, 241 Ga. 44, 243 S.E.2d 24 (1978); Campbell v. State, 240 Ga. 352(8), 240 S.E.2d 828 (1977); Sheffield v. State, 235 Ga. 507, 220 S.E.2d 265 (1975). Accord, Wainwright v. Sykes, 433 U.S. 72, 97 S.Ct. 2497, 53 L.Ed. 594 Notwithstanding, even if considered on its merit......
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Kilgore v. State
...did not raise this objection to the testimony below, and as a result, will not be heard to raise it on appeal. Sheffield v. State, 235 Ga. 507(2), 220 S.E.2d 265 (1975). He next argues that the trial court erred in admitting over objection the hearsay testimony of David Oldaker that Benton ......
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...before trial. “A demurrer to the indictment, motion to quash or plea in abatement must be entered before trial.” Sheffield v. State, 235 Ga. 507(1), 220 S.E.2d 265 (1975) (citations omitted); see, e.g., Peppers v. Balkcom, 218 Ga. 749, 751(2)(b), 130 S.E.2d 709 (1963) (contention that indic......
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Corn v. State
...because no objection was made at trial to the introduction of this evidence. Any objection was therefore waived. Sheffield v. State, 235 Ga. 507, 508, 220 S.E.2d 265 (1975). Enumeration 4 is therefore without 3. In Enumeration 5, Corn alleges that "The incriminating statements obtained from......