Smith v. State
| Decision Date | 05 August 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. A96A1238,A96A1238 |
| Citation | 474 S.E.2d 291,222 Ga.App. 412 |
| Parties | SMITH v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Lettie E. Lane, Macon, for appellant.
Fredric D. Bright, District Attorney, and Stephen A. Bradley, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
HAROLD R. BANKE, Senior Appellate Judge.
Vernita Michelle Smith was convicted of manslaughter after she shot her husband. On appeal, she challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court's refusal to charge the jury on the battered person syndrome, her sole defense.
The evidence supporting the verdict shows that Smith and her husband had been fighting on the day the shooting occurred. He hit her in the mouth, which caused her to inadvertently break a bottle of medicine she was retrieving for her sick child. After Smith went to her bedroom to get the child's Medicaid card, her husband struck her in the head a second time and threatened to kill her. As Smith retrieved a gun from a cabinet, her husband turned away and walked down the hall. At that point, Smith fired one shot into his arm and chest. Smith gave the foregoing statement to police officers shortly after her arrest. Detectives found a shell casing in the hallway and a bag containing the husband's clothing by the front door which Smith admitted her husband had packed, intending to leave. The State also presented evidence that Smith ordinarily kept the gun in her car. According to Smith, her husband was approximately five and one-half feet away when she fired. Held:
1. The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, is sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find all the essential elements of the crime. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319-320, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789-90, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). The elements of manslaughter are satisfied with proof the accused caused the death of another under circumstances which would otherwise be murder but for the fact that she acted "solely as the result of a sudden, violent, and irresistible passion resulting from serious provocation sufficient to excite such passion in a reasonable person." OCGA § 16-5-2(a); Thomas v. State, 184 Ga.App. 131, 132(2), 361 S.E.2d 21 (1987). " ... " Mitchell v. State, 199 Ga.App. 159, 160-161, 404 S.E.2d 329 (1...
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Smith v. State
...committed reversible error in refusing to give her requested jury instructions on the battered woman syndrome. Smith v. State, 222 Ga.App. 412(2), 474 S.E.2d 291 (1996). We granted certiorari to consider whether, and under what circumstances, a defendant is entitled to a charge on the batte......
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...having been reversed by the Supreme Court, Smith v. State, 268 Ga. 196, 486 S.E.2d 819 (1997), our decision in Smith v. State, 222 Ga.App. 412, 413(2), 474 S.E.2d 291 (1996), is hereby vacated, and the judgment of the Supreme Court is made the judgment of this Judgment reversed. BIRDSONG, P......
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...Co. v. Petty, 218 Ga. App. 497, 498, 462 S.E.2d 176, 177-78 (1995). 119. 222 Ga. App. 413, 474 S.E.2d 290 (1996). 120. Id. at 413-14, 474 S.E.2d at 291; O.C.G.A. Sec. 34-9-2(a) (1992 & Supp. 1997). 121. 222 Ga. App. at 413-14, 474 S.E.2d at 291. 122. Id. at 413, 474 S.E.2d at 291. 123. Id. ......
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Smith v. State: the Georgia Supreme Court Mandated Jury Instructions in Battered Person Syndrome Cases - Sherry M. Hall
...4. Id. at 196, 486 S.E.2d at 820. 5. Id. at 196-97, 486 S.E.2d at 820-21. 6. Id. at 197, 486 S.E.2d at 821. 7. Id. 8. Smith v. State, 222 Ga. App. 412, 413, 474 S.E.2d 291, 292 (1996), rev'd 268 Ga. 196, 201, 486 S.E.2d 819, 823-24 (1997). 9. 268 Ga. at 197, 486 S.E.2d at 821. 10. Id. 11. T......