Sumpter v. State
| Decision Date | 21 November 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. S90A1559,S90A1559 |
| Citation | 398 S.E.2d 12,260 Ga. 683 |
| Parties | SUMPTER v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
John H. Tarpley, Sr., Office of Public Defender, Decatur, for sumpter.
Robert E. Wilson, Dist. Atty., Barbara B. Conroy, Thomas S. Clegg, Asst. Dist. Attys., Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, Decatur, Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Atlanta, C.A. Benjamin Woolf, for State.
James Sumpter shot and killed his wife, Lois Sumpter, with a handgun. He was convicted by a jury of felony murder and of pointing a pistol at another, and was sentenced to life imprisonment and for a misdemeanor. 1
After a history of death threats and physical and verbal abuse of his wife, Sumpter pointed a pistol at her and at a friend of her daughter; fatally shot Lois Sumpter in the back; and fired more shots into the ground near her prostrate body. Although Lois Sumpter had a handgun in her purse, she did not put her hand into it, nor did she mention the handgun or threaten or berate Sumpter.
1. (a) Sumpter contends that the trial court erred in charging the jury that if it found him guilty of aggravated assault, it could find him guilty of felony murder regardless of its finding as to malice murder.
(b) The charge was correct under the present law. See Foster v. State, 259 Ga. 206(4), 378 S.E.2d 681 (1989) and cits. In Lewis v. State, 260 Ga. 404, fn. 2, 396 S.E.2d 212, fn.2 (1990), this court recognized some problems with the existing law, but noted that the remedy should lie with the General Assembly.
2. (a) Sumpter argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his in-custody statements, alleging that they were involuntary in that he was not advised of his "Miranda rights" prior to giving the statements; he was "sort of sick" and "under the weather" from having been drinking all day; and that he was coerced by a detective threatening him with the nonexistent crime of "first-degree murder."
(b) In Dampier v. State, 245 Ga. 427, 430(3), 265 S.E.2d 565 (1980), we held:
Unless clearly erroneous, a trial court's factual determinations relating to the credibility of witnesses and the admissibility of confessions will be upheld on appeal. [Cits.]
Sumpter admitted that he was informed of the Miranda warnings prior to making his statement, and that he signed the waiver form before signing his statement. Sumpter was literate. He did not tell the detective that he wished to remain silent, or that he wanted an attorney, or that he wanted the interrogation to end. Sumpter's emotional state and partial intoxication did not vitiate per se the voluntariness of his statement. See Carter v. State, 257 Ga. 510(3), 361 S.E.2d 175 (1987); Fowler v. State, 246 Ga. 256(3), 271 S.E.2d 168 (1980). The officer taking the statement testified that Sumpter did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The trial court's finding of voluntariness was not clearly erroneous.
3. (a) Sumpter urges that the trial court erred in admitting a tape recording of an argument between himself and his wife, which took place after he had been jailed for a prior battery of the victim. The recording disclosed that he had threatened to kill his wife if she had him arrested again. He contends that the trial court failed to instruct the jury, at the time the recording was admitted, that it might be considered only to illustrate prior difficulties.
(b) In Cannon v. State, 257 Ga. 475, 478(3), 360 S.E.2d 592 (1987), we held:
Although as a general rule the state may not...
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...murder. We discern no abuse of the trial court's discretion in admitting the similar transaction evidence. See Sumpter v. State, 260 Ga. 683, 684(3)(b), 398 S.E.2d 12 (1990). 14. Arrington complains that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial based on the State's failure ......
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