State v. Holmes

• Citation: 304 Ga. 524,820 S.E.2d 26
• Decision Date: 09 October 2018
• Docket Number: S18A0851, S18X0852
• Parties: The STATE v. HOLMES; and vice versa.
• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia

304 Ga. 524

820 S.E.2d 26

The STATE

v.HOLMES; and vice versa.

S18A0851, S18X0852

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: October 9, 2018

Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Department of Law, Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Lyndsey Hurst Rudder, Deputy D.A., Marc A. Mallon, Senior A.D.A., Fulton County District Attorney's Office, Attorneys for the Appellant (Case No. S18A0851) and Appellee (Case No. S18X0852).

Suzanne M. Tevis, Fulton County Public Defender, Tamara Natasha Crawford, Atlanta Circuit Public Defender's Office, Atlanta, Attorneys for the Appellee (Case No. S18A0851) and Appellant (Case No. S18X0852).

Benham, Justice.

In June of 2015, cross-appellant Quantravious Antwan Holmes was convicted of malice murder and other offenses arising out of the shooting death of his friend Todd Burkes.¹ The trial court granted Holmes' motion for new trial on two grounds: on the ground that the court had erred by denying Holmes permission to enter into evidence portions of the recorded and transcribed statement of a person named Hamilton, who was not available to appear as a witness at trial; and on the general grounds as the "thirteenth juror." The State filed its notice of appeal from the order granting the motion for new trial, and Holmes was permitted to file an out-of-time notice of cross-appeal asserting insufficiency of the evidence to convict.

For the reasons that follow, we reject Holmes' assertion that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his conviction. We also vacate in part the trial court’s order granting a new trial and remand the case to the trial court for further consideration pursuant to this opinion.

Holmes' Cross-Appeal, Case No. S18X0852

1. Legal Sufficiency of the Evidence

The evidence construed in a light most favorable to upholding the jury’s verdict shows as follows. The murder occurred on a pedestrian bridge in downtown Atlanta at approximately 3:30 a.m. on October 22, 2013. Earlier in the evening, Holmes and Burkes were seen handling a "western style" revolver. They were seen together near the Greyhound Bus terminal, and Holmes was wearing a dark-colored hoodie with white stripes and a large white logo design on the front. A witness who knew both Holmes and the victim told investigators that they were arguing over a woman they were both interested in dating. At trial, the witness denied the men were arguing or that she saw them with a pistol. She explained that she made these statements to the investigators in hopes of pleasing the police since she was facing a criminal charge. A second witness, who was a convicted felon, testified he saw Holmes and the victim arguing earlier in the day and that he also saw them passing around a revolver.

The two men were also seen in the early morning hours at a restaurant near the Five Points MARTA station, and contradictory evidence was presented about whether they were still arguing. They were last seen together at the entrance to the pedestrian bridge. Burkes' body was discovered on the bridge with several gunshot wounds

that appeared to have been fired from a revolver that was never recovered. Also, Burkes' phone and wallet were missing. A resident of a nearby third-floor condo heard shots fired around 3:30 a.m. and then saw a person running away from the direction of the bridge who was wearing a gray hoodie. That witness could not identify the person, however, and did not notice any distinguishing markings on the hoodie. After the shooting, Holmes left Atlanta for New York.

Cross-appellant Holmes argues that the evidence was legally insufficient to support his conviction. OCGA § 24–14–6 provides: "To warrant a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the proved facts shall not only be consistent with the hypothesis of guilt, but shall exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused." Evidence was presented that a person named Hamilton had possession of the victim’s phone shortly after the time of the shooting. From this, Holmes argues the State failed to exclude the reasonable hypothesis that Hamilton killed the victim and thus failed to meet the evidentiary standard for proving Holmes committed the crimes charged. Questions about the reasonableness of other hypotheses in cases based on circumstantial evidence, however, are for the trier of fact to decide. Winston v. State , 303 Ga. 604, 607, 814 S.E.2d 408 (2018) ; see Nichols v. State , 292 Ga. 290, 291, 736 S.E.2d 407 (2013). Having reviewed the record, we conclude the jury was authorized to find that the evidence, though circumstantial, was sufficient to exclude every reasonable hypothesis save that of guilt. In such a case, the jury’s finding will not be disturbed unless the verdict of guilty is insupportable as a matter of law. See Neely v. State , 302 Ga. 121, 123 (1), 805 S.E.2d 18 (2017) ; Smiley v. State , 300 Ga. 582, 586 (1), 797 S.E.2d 472 (2017).

Relying upon Moore v. State ,² Holmes argues that mere presence at the scene of a crime is insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, even when the evidence establishes a motive and the defendant flees the state after the crime. The evidence in this case establishes more than mere presence and motive, however, in that evidence was presented from which the jury could find Holmes was in possession of a weapon hours before the shooting that was similar to the type of gun from which the fatal bullet was fired. Additionally, a person dressed similarly to Holmes was seen fleeing the scene immediately after shots were fired. On criminal appeal, the defendant is no longer presumed innocent and all of the evidence is to be viewed in the light most favorable to the jury verdict. Batten v. State , 295 Ga. 442, 443 (1), 761 S.E.2d 70 (2014). This Court does not reconsider evidence or attempt to confirm the accuracy of testimony. Id. So long as there is some competent evidence, even if contradicted, to support each fact necessary to the State’s case beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury’s verdict will be upheld. Johnson v. State , 296 Ga. 504, 505 (1), 769 S.E.2d 87 (2015).

We conclude the evidence was sufficient for a jury to find Holmes guilty beyond a reasonable doubt pursuant to the standard set forth in Jackson v. Virginia .³ Accord Robbins v. State , 269 Ga. 500, 499 S.E.2d 323 (1998) (holding the evidence was legally sufficient to support a murder conviction in a case in which the defendant and victim had previously fought over a woman and the defendant was observed carrying a gun similar to the one used in the murder even though no murder weapon was found). We therefore affirm the portion of the trial court’s order ruling that the evidence was sufficient.

State’s Appeal, Case No. S18A0851

2. Grant of New Trial on the Trial Court’s Conclusion It Committed Evidentiary Error

One of the State’s assertions on appeal is that the trial court erred in granting the motion for new trial based on its conclusion that it wrongly denied Holmes permission to introduce a portion of the statement made by Hamilton and required Holmes, instead, to introduce all or none of that statement. Because the trial court did not properly apply the rules of evidence to its analysis of this issue, we vacate the order granting a new trial on this ground and remand for further consideration in accordance with this opinion.

(a) Information gleaned from Burkes' phone records showed the phone was still being used at the time that information was gathered, and had been used at a location at or near the crime scene shortly after the time of the shooting. The records led the police to Colin Hamilton, who told an investigator in an interview two weeks after the shooting that he found Burkes' body and took the cell phone from next to it because the phone belonged to him. Hamilton said the phone was stolen from him on the night of the murder by two men, and he described their clothing and appearance. Hamilton stated one man was holding a revolver and was wearing a gray hoodie, while the other man was wearing clothing that matched the victim’s clothing. Hamilton could not identify Holmes when given a photo line-up that included Holmes' picture. Hamilton was unavailable for trial, and the State filed a pre-trial motion seeking to exclude the admission of Hamilton’s statement on hearsay grounds. Holmes sought to introduce certain portions of Hamilton’s statement, arguing it was admissible under the "necessity" exception to the hearsay rule.⁴ Holmes wanted to introduce that portion of the statement in which Hamilton stated he found his own phone on the bridge near the victim’s body, which had been taken from him in a robbery, but Holmes did not want to introduce other portions in which Hamilton stated he was robbed by the victim and a person wearing a gray hoodie or that he had seen the victim and that other person walk onto the pedestrian bridge just two minutes before hearing gunshots. Holmes argued that the portion of Hamilton’s statement that he picked up the phone next to a dead body was reliable hearsay because it was an admission against Hamilton’s interest since it showed he had motive and opportunity to be involved in the victim’s shooting. But because the trial court ruled that the defense would be required to enter Hamilton’s statement in its entirety, Holmes did not present the statement to the jury.

Through phone records and other evidence, the defense presented evidence at trial that Hamilton was in possession of the phone after the victim was killed. But without the admission of Hamilton’s statement that he took the phone when he found it near the victim’s body, the State was able to argue that Hamilton could have come into possession of the phone by some other means, even though the State knew, but the jury did not, that Hamilton stated he took the phone from the crime scene. In its order granting Holmes' motion for a...