Willis v. State

• Decision Date: 01 April 2021
• Docket Number: A21A0425
• Citation: 359 Ga.App. 289,857 S.E.2d 278
• Court: Georgia Court of Appeals
• Parties: WILLIS v. The STATE.

359 Ga.App. 289

857 S.E.2d 278

WILLIS

v.The STATE.

A21A0425

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

April 1, 2021

Thomas Richard Mondeli, for Appellant.

Marie G. Broder, District Attorney, Elizabeth A. Baker, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Brown, Judge.

Travion Willis appeals from his convictions of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and theft by taking a motor vehicle. He contends that the State failed to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt his affirmative defense of coercion and that the trial court erred by admitting into evidence his inculpatory statement to police. We affirm.

This is the second appearance of this case before this Court. In its first appearance, this Court affirmed the trial court's grant of a new trial to Willis and his co-defendant Christopher Wakefield, and dismissed as moot Willis’ challenge to his sentence. See State v. Wakefield , 324 Ga. App. 587, 751 S.E.2d 199 (2013). Both men were retried together and again convicted. In Wakefield v. State , 350 Ga. App. XXVII (Case No. A19A0655) (May 17, 2019) (unpublished) ("Wakefield II "), we affirmed Wakefield's conviction and summarized the evidence as follows:

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, the evidence shows that in June 2008, Joshua Askew was employed by his father's amusement gaming company, which placed coin-operated gaming machines in bars, restaurants, and gas station convenience stores, and split the money from these games with the venues. One of Askew's responsibilities with the company was to collect the proceeds from the games and then divvy them up with the venue owner.

On the afternoon of June [16], 2008, Askew had collected approximately $8,000 from five venues when he arrived at a [Shell] gas station at the intersection of Highways 85 and 314 in Fayetteville. Then, after collecting the money from that station's games, Askew exited the convenience store and walked toward his SUV, while looking down at his mobile phone. But before Askew reached his vehicle, he was confronted by two men, one of whom—later identified as Travion Willis—pointed a handgun at his chest and demanded that he turn around. Askew complied, and Willis took the money from his pocket and the other man—later identified as Wakefield—filched his phone. Willis then ordered Askew to get into the trunk of a silver Chevrolet Impala parked next to Askew's SUV, and Askew again complied.

Subsequently, Willis got behind the wheel of the Impala, Wakefield entered Askew's SUV, and both vehicles then left the gas station. But within only a few minutes, the Impala came to a halt as a result of Willis rear-ending Askew's SUV. And seizing the opportunity to escape, Askew pulled the interior-trunk release, jumped out of the Impala's trunk, and ran to the vehicle of another motorist, who had stopped because of the accident, to ask for help. Wakefield, still driving Askew's SUV, and Willis, still driving the Impala, sped off. Askew and the assisting motorist briefly pursued them but quickly lost contact with the vehicles and, thus, returned to a nearby shopping center parking lot to wait for the police.

Shortly thereafter, a dispatched police officer arrived. And while taking Askew's statement, the officer began receiving calls about a vehicle matching Askew's description of the silver Impala being seen in a neighborhood a short distance away. Immediately, the officer went to the scene and found a silver Impala—with a Florida license plate and its engine still running—that had apparently become stuck in a drainage culvert while attempting to back out of a driveway. A resident of a neighboring home informed the officer that she had seen the driver exit the vehicle and then attempt to break the driver-side window with a rock after seemingly locking himself out. But upon being unable to do so, the driver fled into the nearby woods. Given this information, the officer radioed for a perimeter to be set up in the area, and not long after receiving several calls about a suspicious person running through the woods, the police apprehended Willis. Additionally, in searching the Impala, the first responding officer recovered a handgun, and, around the same time, police found Askew's SUV abandoned less than a mile away.

After running the Impala's license plate through the GCIC, the investigating police officers determined that the vehicle had been rented from a company in Jacksonville, Florida, by Wakefield's aunt, who later reported it stolen. And during the officers’ questioning of Willis, he admitted being involved in the armed robbery and kidnapping of Askew but claimed that Wakefield forced him to participate in the crimes. Approximately one week later, police officers arrested Wakefield, who at the time was still in possession of some of the cash stolen from Askew.

The State later charged Wakefield and Willis, via the same indictment, with one count each of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and theft by taking. The case then proceeded to trial, during which the State presented the evidence discussed supra. In addition, Wakefield testified in his own defense. Specifically, although he acknowledged that his aunt rented a car on his behalf so he could drive to the Atlanta area to see his child, he claimed the car was stolen from a gas station and that he neither knew Willis nor had anything to do with the armed robbery and kidnapping.

(Footnote omitted.) Wakefield II , slip opinion at 1-4.

Willis, who was 17 at the time of the armed robbery, also testified in his own defense and claimed that he met Wakefield sometime in 2008, but did not know his name; Willis knew Wakefield only as "boss" or "boss man." Willis saw Wakefield at least ten times between March 2008 and June 2008, including the evening before the armed robbery, June 15, 2008, when Willis agreed to go with Wakefield the next day to meet up with some girls. Willis could not recall the date but acknowledged that Wakefield had previously asked him to "join[ ] [Wakefield] to rob somebody," but Willis said no because he was on probation and did not want to go back to jail.

On the morning of June 16, 2008, Wakefield picked up Willis and the two drove around in the Impala for "[a] few hours," waiting for the girls to call. They stopped at several places including the Shell gas station, where Willis heard the cashier tell Wakefield, "don't hurt him or nothing." Willis thought the cashier was talking about him and took it as a joke. The two left the Shell gas station, visited a second gas station, and then a Big Lots, where Willis waited in the car for thirty minutes while Wakefield went inside the store. The two continued driving around and then Wakefield received a call and responded that he was on the way. At that point, the two men returned to the Shell gas station and committed the armed robbery and kidnapping of Askew.

According to Willis, when the two men pulled up to the gas station, Wakefield pulled out a gun and said to Willis, "you see that cracker right there, put him in the car; put him in the trunk of the car." Willis responded that he "want[ed] nothing to do with that." According to Willis, Wakefield pulled a second gun and responded "you ain't got no choice; if you don't, I'll kill him, I'll do it myself."¹ Willis testified that Wakefield pointed the gun at him; that he was scared for his life; and that he did not want to rob Askew, but that Wakefield forced him to do it. Willis later testified that Wakefield told him he would kill him, and that Willis thought about running but was scared Wakefield would shoot him in the back. After the two vehicles fled the gas station, Willis testified that Wakefield came up next to him in Askew's SUV, pointed his gun through the window, and then cut in front of Willis, at which point the two vehicles collided.

Willis testified that he told police that Wakefield threatened him and that he was scared but acknowledged that he lied to police about Wakefield's identity because he was afraid Wakefield would come after his family; Willis told police that "Jerry" was involved in the incident. He admitted to participating in the robbery but told police he "felt [he] didn't really have a choice." Willis also stated that he ran from the abandoned Impala and police because he was scared that he would be arrested on an outstanding warrant for violating "misdemeanor probation."

1. Willis asserts that insufficient evidence supports his convictions because the State did not disprove coercion. We disagree.

Under OCGA § 16-3-26, a person cannot be guilty of any crime except murder "if the act upon which the supposed criminal liability is based is performed under such coercion that the person reasonably believes that performing the act is the only way to prevent his imminent death or great bodily injury." "Coercion is an affirmative defense, and the burden rests with the State to disprove coercion beyond a reasonable doubt." (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Blocker v. State , 265 Ga. App. 846, 851 (5), 595 S.E.2d 654 (2004). "Whether a defendant is coerced into acting, however, is a question for the trier of fact." Engrisch v. State , 293 Ga. App. 810, 812, 668 S.E.2d 319 (2008).

In this case, the State elicited testimony from Willis that he had several opportunities throughout the incident to ask for help from police because he feared for his life. Willis acknowledged that he abandoned the Impala in front of a house with a police car, but instead of running up to the house to ask for help, he ran from the house. He also confirmed that after running from the Impala, he came upon a house where the occupant allowed him to use her telephone. Instead of calling police as he feared for his life, Willis called his aunt, told her he had been out swimming with friends and was stranded, and asked her to pick him up. As Willis waited for his aunt at...