Styles v. State

• Decision Date: 10 August 2020
• Docket Number: S20A0668
• Citation: 847 S.E.2d 325,309 Ga. 463
• Parties: STYLES v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

309 Ga. 463

847 S.E.2d 325

STYLES

v.The STATE.

S20A0668

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: August 10, 2020

Earle Johnston Duncan, Attorney at Law, P.O. Box 644, Darien, Georgia 31305, for Appellant.

Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Paula Khristian Smith, Christopher M. Carr, Leslie Anna Coots, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Michelle Thomas Harrison, Bradfield M. Shealy, Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, P.O. Box 99, Valdosta, Georgia 31603-0099, for Appellee.

Ellington, Justice.

A Brooks County jury found Michael Styles guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Alberto Lumens and the armed robbery of Juan Lumens Garcia.¹ Styles contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions, that the trial court erred in charging the jury and in handling a communication from the jury, that the prosecutor improperly expressed personal opinions during the trial, and that defense counsel rendered him ineffective assistance. Because these claims of error are without merit, we affirm.

In Styles v. State , 308 Ga. 624, 842 S.E.2d 869, 871-877 (2020), in which this Court affirmed the convictions of Styles’ brother and co-defendant, Derrick, we set forth the following facts:

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdicts, the record shows the following. Lumens and his son, Cesar Lumens, lived with Garcia in Garcia's Brooks County home. On the evening of July 25, 2009, the men had retired to their bedrooms after an afternoon of drinking beer. Garcia testified that he heard the front door open followed by the sounds of people talking. He left his bedroom to investigate and saw three people, two men and one woman, standing by the front door. Garcia recognized one of the men as "Nino," whom he later identified as Cornell Stephens from a photographic lineup. When Garcia walked toward the front door, the man with Stephens (later identified as [Derrick] ) pointed a gun at Garcia and demanded money. Garcia refused, and [Derrick] struck him on the head with the gun. [Derrick] forced Garcia to return to his bedroom. Once there, [Derrick] rummaged through Garcia's belongings; he took a photo album, a ring, a necklace, and Garcia's wallet, which contained $400. When [Derrick] turned his back to Garcia, Garcia pushed him through the doorway and closed the door. [Derrick] fired twice at the door. Because Garcia had moved away from the door, the bullets did not strike him. When Garcia felt sure that the robbers had left, he looked for Lumens. He found Lumens lying on the bathroom floor, dead from a gunshot wound

. Also, the $5,000 in cash that Lumens had kept in his bedroom was gone.

On July 27, Essie Hollis, the woman who entered the house with [Derrick] and Stephens, called the police and agreed to be interviewed by GBI Agent Michael Callahan.

Hollis told Agent Callahan, and also testified at trial, that she ran into Styles and his brothers, [Derrick] and Jonathan, at a gas station on the night of the murder. [Derrick] asked her if she wanted to "go make some money tricking." Hollis agreed and got into the car with Styles, his brothers, and a fourth man, Lamar Jones. They stopped to pick up Stephens, and they dropped Jonathan off. Thereafter, [Derrick] discussed with Hollis, Stephens, Jones, and his brother, [Styles], a plan to rob the people at Garcia's house. They agreed that Stephens would take Hollis to Garcia's house, Hollis would have sex with the occupants of the house, find out where the money was kept, and then report back. According to Hollis, when they arrived at Garcia's home, she and Stephens executed the plan as instructed. After having sex with Lumens, Hollis went back outside, allegedly to get another condom, and told [Derrick] where he could find money inside the house. Stephens, Jones, [Derrick], and [Styles] walked toward the house while Hollis got into the car. Hollis said she heard gunshots. She said that [Styles] got in the driver's side of the car. Moments later, she saw [Derrick] and Jones run from the house toward Stephens and the car. Once everyone was in the car, [Styles] sped off.

Hollis testified that [Derrick], who had been using cocaine all evening, was acting "hyped up and crazy." [Derrick] told her that she had "better not run [her] mouth" and that he ought to shoot her so that she could not talk. Hollis testified that [Derrick] was concerned that he had dropped his gun somewhere near the house and that he needed to go back and get it. [Derrick] offered Hollis a stolen cell phone, which she declined. Hollis also testified that a surveillance video recording that the police had recovered from the gas station showed her interacting with [the Styles brothers] and Jones.^[2] Hollis was arrested on July 30, for her role in the crimes and she later pleaded guilty to robbery.^[3]

Stephens also pleaded guilty to robbery and testified at trial. Stephens testified that Styles, [Derrick], and Jones had asked him to pimp Hollis to Lumens and Garcia. Stephens testified that, after [Derrick] picked him up, they all went to Garcia's home. On the way there, they talked about committing a robbery. Stephens went inside the house with Hollis. After Hollis had sex with Lumens, she went back outside. Shortly thereafter, Stephens saw [Derrick] and Jones enter the home; [Derrick] had a gun. Stephens heard gunfire coming from inside the house and fled to the car. When he returned to the car, [Styles] was already in the driver's seat, and Hollis was in the back seat. Stephens testified that he heard two or three more shots from the house, and then Jones and [Derrick] returned to the car. The five drove off. When they arrived at [Derrick's] home, Jones took out a wallet and gave Hollis some money. Thereafter, Stephens drove [Derrick] back to Garcia's house to retrieve the gun; after they found it, they drove to Valdosta. After the crimes, Styles and [Derrick] asked Stephens where Hollis could be found. Stephens decided to go to the police because [Derrick] had previously made threats about killing Hollis. On July 28, Stephens spoke to Agent Callahan about the crimes.

Lamar Jones also pleaded guilty to robbery and later testified at trial. Jones gave testimony corroborating Hollis’ and Stephens’ account of the crimes. He also testified that Hollis told them that Lumens kept his money in a dresser drawer. When he went inside the house with [Derrick], he saw [Derrick] approach Lumens, who was standing in his bathroom, wrapped in a towel. [Derrick] began yelling at Lumens, demanding his money. Jones said he did not see [Derrick] shoot Lumens, but he did see him shooting at Garcia's bedroom door. Jones ran outside to the car, followed by [Derrick], and the group sped away. Jones also testified that he had participated in another armed robbery earlier the same day with [Derrick] and one of his other brothers, Dominique Styles.

During their investigation of the crimes, the police found a photograph taken from Lumens’ home in [Derrick's] car. The police also found two .380 bullets and five .380 shell casings in Lumens’ home. One of the shell casings was found on the bathroom floor. Two bullet holes were found in Garcia's door. A bullet was recovered from the door frame and another was recovered from Garcia's bedroom. A third bullet was recovered from Lumens’ body. The ballistics expert who examined the bullets and shell casings testified that the five shell casings had markings indicating that they had been ejected from the same gun. The bullets had matching lands and grooves that also indicated that they had been fired from the same gun. However, without a gun to test the bullets and casings against, he was unable to determine if bullets had been fired from the same gun that had ejected the shell casings. The medical examiner testified that Lumens’ cause of death was a gunshot wound

to the chest.

[Styles] turned himself in on August 25, and [Derrick] was arrested in Texas on September 22, 2009.

1. Styles contends the evidence was insufficient to show that he participated in Derrick's crimes. He argues that the testimony of his co-defendants, Hollis, Jones, and Stephens, was uncorroborated accomplice testimony and therefore insufficient to support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree.

Under former OCGA § 24-4-8, "[in] felony cases where the only witness is an accomplice, the testimony of a single witness is not sufficient. Nevertheless, corroborating circumstances may dispense with the necessity for the testimony of a second witness[.]"⁴

Furthermore,

sufficient corroborating evidence may be circumstantial, it may be slight, and it need not of itself be sufficient to warrant a conviction of the crime charged. It must, however, be independent of the accomplice testimony and must directly connect the defendant with the crime, or lead to the inference that he is guilty. Slight evidence from an extraneous source identifying the accused as a participant in the criminal act is sufficient corroboration of the accomplice to support a verdict.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Taylor v. State , 297 Ga. 132, 134 (2), 772 S.E.2d 630 (2015). "[C]orroboration of only the chronology and details of the crimes is not sufficient, and there must be some independent evidence tending to show that the defendant himself was a participant in the crimes." (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Id. at 134 (2), 772 S.E.2d 630.

In this case, three accomplices testified, corroborating each other's testimony. See Lawrence v. State , 286 Ga. 533 (1), 690 S.E.2d 801 (2010) ("While a defendant may not be convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of a single accomplice, it is well established that the testimony of a second accomplice is sufficient to corroborate that of the first." (citation and punctuation omitted)). Further, each of these witnesses testified that Styles participated in the crimes by helping to plan them and by acting as the...