Smiley v. State
| Citation | 524 S.E.2d 234,271 Ga. 734 |
| Decision Date | 22 November 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. S99A1560.,S99A1560. |
| Parties | SMILEY v. The STATE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
John E. Pirkle, Hinesville, for appellant.
J. Thomas Durden, Jr., District Attorney, Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Daniel G. Ashburn, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Appellant Jerry Smiley appeals his conviction for malice murder and resulting life sentence.1 Finding no error in the trial court's rulings concerning either the admissibility of appellant's voluntary confession, or the impropriety of appellant's attempt to elicit testimony regarding the victim's purported prior drug use, we affirm.
The evidence showed that both appellant and the victim, Eric Austin, were dating the same woman, Darlene Middleton. On the evening of May 13, 1995, appellant confronted Austin and Middleton, and then went to his father's house and retrieved his father's shotgun. Appellant, along with an accomplice, proceeded to his sister's house, where appellant obtained shotgun shells. Appellant and his accomplice then went to the home of appellant's other sister and retrieved a car. In the early morning hours of May 14, the duo drove to Middleton's home, where the accomplice called for Austin to step outside. When Austin did so, appellant, who had been hiding in the shadows, shot him several times in the back, killing him. At the time of the murder, Austin was not armed.
Police officers found appellant at his sister's home. When asked what had occurred, appellant replied, "Well, I'm not gonna let no damn body put a gun to my head and get by with it." Police asked appellant where the gun was, and he showed police the gun's location.
Appellant was informed of his Miranda rights while being transported to the Police Department. At the Police Department, appellant was read his Miranda rights a second time, and he signed a waiver of rights form. Appellant then gave police a statement in which he admitted instructing his accomplice to call the victim outside and then shooting the victim. Appellant claimed that the victim had "bluffed" him by reaching for a gun. At trial, appellant claimed that he shot the victim in self-defense, and stated that when he went to Middleton's home he was seeking the victim, with the intention that if the victim "acted like he want to do something, I would shoot him."
1. The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of murder.2
2. The trial court did not err in refusing to allow appellant to cross-examine a witness concerning the victim's use of cocaine. Appellant sought to elicit this testimony in support of his justification defense. However, any evidence touching upon the victim's use of drugs prior to his death was irrelevant to appellant's claim of justification.3 Under the facts of this case, even assuming that the testimony appellant sought to elicit would have authorized the jury to infer that the victim had previously used cocaine, prior drug use by the victim would not have tended to prove his reputation for violence or the reasonableness of appellant's claim that the use of deadly force was necessary.4
3. At trial, appellant failed to object to the admission into evidence of the inculpatory statements he made to police officers at his sister's home prior to being taken into custody and advised of his Miranda rights. Accordingly, appellant's enumeration that the trial court erred in admitting those statements is deemed waived on appeal.5
4. The trial court did not err in admitting appellant's statements made after his arrest and after being advised of his Miranda rights. The standard for determining the admissibility of a defendant's confession is the preponderance of the evidence.6 To determine whether a confession was voluntarily made, a trial court must consider the totality of the circumstances, and unless clearly erroneous, a trial court's credibility determinations and factual findings relating to the admissibility of a confession must be upheld on appeal.7
Law enforcement officers testified at a Jackson-Denno hearing that prior to making his statement at police headquarters, appellant was read his rights twice, and stated that he understood what was read to him. Appellant also signed a waiver of rights form. At the hearing, appellant acknowledged that his Miranda rights were read to him twice and that he signed the waiver of rights form, but nonetheless claimed that he did not understand those rights. Law enforcement officers testified that appellant appeared to understand his rights, did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and was not coerced or offered inducements in exchange for his...
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Edenfield v. State
...a statement was, in fact, voluntary. See Bunnell v. State, 292 Ga. 253, 255(2), 735 S.E.2d 281 (2013). See also Smiley v. State, 271 Ga. 734, 735–736(4), 524 S.E.2d 234 (1999). On appeal, when we review the denial of a motion to suppress a statement, we owe no deference to the way in which ......
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Gibson v. State, S16A1507
...had the burden of showing that the evidence specifically relates to the victim's reputation for violence. See Smiley v. State , 271 Ga. 734, 735 (2), 524 S.E.2d 234 (1999) (the defendant's proffered evidence was inadmissible because it would not have tended to prove the victim's reputation ......
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Youngblood v. State
...upon the victim's use of drugs prior to the assault was irrelevant to Youngblood's claim of justification. Smiley v. State, 271 Ga. 734, 735(2), 524 S.E.2d 234 (1999). Under the facts of this case, even assuming that the testimony Youngblood sought to elicit would have authorized the jury t......
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Chambers v. the State.
...not evidence either of the victim's general reputation for violence or of specific acts of violence by the victim. Smiley v. State, 271 Ga. 734, 735(2), 524 S.E.2d 234 (1999) (Evidence of any prior drug use by the victim would not have tended to prove his reputation for violence or the reas......