State v. Watson
| Decision Date | 09 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | A19A2358 |
| Citation | 354 Ga.App. 263,840 S.E.2d 641 |
| Parties | The STATE v. WATSON. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
Joyette Marie Holmes, Amelia Greeson Pray, Marietta, John Stuart Melvin, Stephanie Anne Adrean, for Appellant.
Ashleigh Bartkus Merchant, David Russell Willingham, Marietta, for Appellee.
Patrick Watson was indicted for armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, robbery by sudden snatching, kidnapping, theft by receiving stolen property, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, and obstruction of an officer. Prior to trial, the State moved to admit evidence of other acts under OCGA § 24-4-404 (b), which motion the trial court denied. The State now appeals, arguing that the trial court improperly applied OCGA §§ 24-4-404 (b) and 24-4-403 to exclude extrinsic evidence of other acts for the purposes of showing motive, intent, and knowledge.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
The record shows that Watson, LaMarcus Jackson ("LaMarcus"), Xavier Jackson ("Xavier"), a minor individual, and Marquis Barnes were indicted for numerous offenses stemming from a 2016 incident in which the men allegedly stole a Jeep occupied at the time by the owner’s 8-month old infant, who was strapped into a car seat in the back of the vehicle while the men attempted to escape police. Prior to stealing the Jeep, the State alleged that Watson, LaMarcus, Barnes, and the two other individuals attempted to steal a Mercedes but Watson was unable to start the vehicle after taking the owner’s keys from her at gunpoint. The men drove in their previously stolen sedan from that scene to the gas station, where Watson is alleged to have entered the Jeep through the passenger’s side while the owner pumped gas. Watson drove away in the Jeep with the infant in the car and was followed by the other individuals in the sedan. A police chase of both vehicles ensued, and after the vehicles eventually crashed, the co-conspirators fled on foot. Police immediately apprehended LaMarcus and Barnes, Xavier was identified through belongings in a vehicle and arrested one month later, and the minor was arrested one month later based on co-conspirator statements.
Approximately two years later, Xavier agreed to cooperate with police and identified Watson as the remaining unapprehended co-conspirator and identified him as the driver of the Jeep; Xavier agreed to plead guilty and testify against LaMarcus, Barnes, and Watson. After Watson was apprehended, police obtained a warrant and took DNA and hair samples from him to try and match the hair discovered at the scene in the area where the driver would have been in the Jeep when it crashed. Investigators were able to visually compare the hair samples to the hair found at the scene, but an attempted DNA match was not conclusive.
Prior to trial, the State moved to introduce evidence of prior acts committed by Watson, including three instances of him stealing or being found in possession of stolen vehicles and personal property.
In 2013, Watson entered a guilty plea based on incidents occurring in 2012 in which Watson snatched keys off a coffee shop table, stole the victim’s unattended vehicle from the parking lot, and fled from police when he was spotted in the vehicle the next day. Watson also was charged in the same indictment for four sudden snatching thefts of personal electronics.
The second extrinsic act the State sought to introduce was evidence that in late 2014, Watson snuck into a vehicle in a repair shop parking lot while the owner of the vehicle was talking with her father and another individual. The father and the other individual got into their cars and chased Watson, who ultimately crashed the stolen vehicle and fled on foot. Police responded to the area of the crash and located Watson after a search of the area; Watson pleaded guilty in 2015 to the charges arising therefrom.
Finally, the State sought to introduce evidence from an extrinsic act in 2016 during which police stopped a vehicle driven by Watson, discovered a handgun in plain view, prompting officers to attempt to detain Watson, who refused to comply with instructions, leading to the use of non-lethal force to arrest him. Watson pleaded guilty in 2017 to possession of a firearm and obstruction.
At the hearing on various pre-trial motions, the State requested that the trial court admit the prior acts evidence for proof of motive, intent, knowledge, absence of mistake or accident, and to rebut any material assertion presented by Watson. The court questioned the State as to how it was supposed to rule on use of the evidence for rebuttal to arguments not yet presented by Watson, and the State conceded that The State also conceded that the extrinsic acts were not sufficiently similar to be admitted in order to show identity. The State insisted, however, that the court should admit the evidence on the basis of its relevance to Watson’s motive, intent, or knowledge.
The State first argued that it needed the extrinsic evidence of the other acts to prove motive, which it contended was "the sheer joy and thrill of " stealing vehicles and fleeing from authorities, rather than simple desire to possess the stolen items. The State next argued that the extrinsic evidence was relevant to Watson’s intent, which he had put into issue by pleading not guilty to the charges. The State maintained that Watson’s intent was the same in the extrinsic acts as compared to the instant charges because they involved similar crimes of sudden snatching thefts, stealing vehicles, and fleeing from police in high speed chases, and they showed his willingness to possess firearms during other crimes. Finally, the State argued that the extrinsic evidence was relevant to show common knowledge among the defendants that they were participating in the conspiracy to steal the vehicles (or attempt to do so). The State argued its need for the extrinsic act evidence was high because its case against Watson rested only on the visual hair analysis and co-conspirator statements. The State had subpoenaed approximately 80 witnesses total if necessary to prove the extrinsic acts it wished to submit against Watson and Barnes.2
The trial court denied the State’s motion, finding that because Watson’s defense rested on his claim that he was not involved in the crimes at all, rather than a mere presence defense, the extrinsic evidence was prejudicial and should not be admitted. The trial court explained that the extrinsic evidence was not sufficiently probative to the issue of motive, which was apparent based on the nature of the charges, intent was not a heavily contested issue and would also be apparent based on the nature of the charges, and the incidents did not involve the type of specialized knowledge such that the probative value of the extrinsic evidence overcame its prejudicial effect of entering into the record propensity or bad character evidence against Watson.
1. As an initial matter, Watson contends that the State’s appeal should be dismissed because it was taken for the purposes of delay and because the evidence excluded by the trial court did not constitute substantial proof of a material fact in the proceeding.
Watson contends that the State’s appeal does not meet the criteria for appealing under this Code section because the appeal was taken for purposes of delay, and because the extrinsic evidence excluded by the trial court does not meet the definition of evidence of substantial proof of a material fact. In addition to the fact that Watson failed to file a cross-appeal, we disagree with his substantive argument.
Prior to 2013, the State did not have the right to appeal pre-trial evidentiary decisions,3 but since the Code was amended at that time, this Court has recognized that such rulings are appealable by the State under OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (5).4 To the extent that Watson contends that this appeal does not meet the requirement of OCGA 5-7-1 (a) (5) (B) in that the exclusion of the extrinsic evidence did not affect substantial proof of a material fact, we disagree. The extrinsic evidence was offered to assist the State in proving motive, intent, and knowledge, which are material issues in the case. Therefore, the State was authorized to appeal. As for the argument that the State pursued the appeal for purposes of delay because Watson had a motion for speedy trial pending, we decline to hold that the mere existence of such a motion prohibits the State from exercising its right to appeal under OCGA § 5-7-1 (a) (5).
2. The State argues that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding the extrinsic evidence of Watson’s other acts for the purposes of showing intent, motive, and knowledge because the acts were relevant to those issues, were similar to the charges, and occurred close in time.
We review a trial court’s decision to exclude other acts evidence for a clear abuse of discretion.5 This Court construes ...
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