Towns v. State

• Decision Date: 14 January 1988
• Docket Number: No. 75257,75257
• Citation: 365 S.E.2d 137,185 Ga.App. 545
• Parties: TOWNS v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals

Page 137

365 S.E.2d 137

185 Ga.App. 545

TOWNS v. The STATE.

No. 75257.

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Jan. 14, 1988.

John W. Davis, Brunswick, for appellant.

Glenn Thomas, Jr., Dist. Atty., John B. Johnson III, Asst. Dist. Atty., for appellee.

BEASLEY, Judge.

Defendant was convicted of three counts of burglary (OCGA § 16-7-1) for entering an office building, and two different offices of another office building, on the same day. On appeal, he contests only the conviction of the third count, which involves one of the latter. He concedes the sufficiency of the evidence as to the others.

He claims error in the trial court's denial of his motion for new trial as to Count 3. Count 1 alleged that defendant entered a "building occupied by Curtis Tucker, ... located at Room 243 at 1803 Gloucester Street,...." Count 3 alleged entry into "a building occupied by Marc Rankin, Glynn County Tax Assessor, located at Room 208 at 1803 Gloucester Street...." Count 2 involved the Board of Education Building at another location.

Defendant contends that the evidence was insufficient to prove Count 3, listing substantially what have become loosely known as the "general grounds." He urges (1) that the verdict is contrary to law; (2) that the verdict is contrary to the evidence (OCGA § 5-5-20); and (3) that the verdict is strongly against the weight of the evidence (OCGA § 5-5-21). Ground one is not expressly found in either Code section, but "contrary to the principles of justice and equity" appears in OCGA § 5-5-20, and OCGA § 5-5-25 provides for the trial court's consideration on a motion for new trial of "other grounds" according to the provisions of the common law.

There are, however, no legal errors argued on appeal other than the sufficiency of the evidence, so the first ground presents nothing separate to review. Ground three, OCGA § 5-5-21, addresses itself solely to the trial judge's discretion. Ridley v. State, 236 Ga. 147, 149(1), 223 S.E.2d 131 (1976), overruled to the extent that it used the "any evidence" standard for making this determination on appeal by Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979), as noted in Adams v. State, 255 Ga. 356, 357 (fn. 2), 338 S.E.2d 860 (1986); Daniel v. State, 180 Ga.App. 687, 688(1) & (2), 350 S.E.2d 49 (1986). Accordingly, the only matter presented to this court from the remaining general ground is the sufficiency of the evidence, not its weight. See also Stinson v. State, 185 Ga.App. 543, 364 S.E.2d 910 (1988).

As to Count 3, the evidence when taken in a light favorable to the verdict showed as follows. The building at 1803 Gloucester Street was broken into by breaking a window on the first floor which then was opened and entered. Each individual office in the building locked separately and all were locked when the building was not occupied. A soft drink machine located in the first floor hallway was pried open and the coin box broken into and its contents taken. The door of the office through which entry was made locked, and then an attempt was made to pry it open from the hallway where the drink machine was located. The door was not pried open.

The door from the hallway of Room 208, on the second floor, was pried open. A tire tool was found outside the Board of Education Building (Count 2) and pry marks from the door frame of Room 208 matched the tool, and...