Golden v. State
Golden v. State
Opinion of the Court
Rashunda Denise Golden was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of her mother. On appeal, she contests the trial court’s finding that her pre-trial statements were made voluntarily. Held:
On the evening of July 2 or in the early morning of July 3, 1987, Frances Golden was shot to death in her bedroom. Appellant, was 17 at the time of the shooting and her sister was 14. Police interviewed appellant on the morning of July 3, and again on July 10 to see if she remembered anything else, but appellant was not considered a sus
“Factual and credibility determinations made by a trial judge after a suppression hearing are accepted by appellate courts unless clearly erroneous.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Powell v. State, 252 Ga. 297, 298 (313 SE2d 90) (1984). “Contrary to inferences raised by [appellant], [her] age of 17 does not affect the admissibility of the statement. [She] does not fall within the definition of ‘child’ under OCGA § 15-11-2. Therefore, as an adult [she] is not entitled to the higher degree of court scrutiny awarded juveniles in determining the ‘knowing and voluntariness’ of their confessions.” Duncan v. State, 176 Ga. App. 652, 654 (337 SE2d 433) (1985). See also Birt v. State, 170 Ga. App. 57 (316 SE2d 169) (1984).
Nor do we find that appellant’s IQ of 83 precludes a finding that she understood her rights and knowingly waived them. “A mere showing that one who confessed to a crime may have suffered from some mental disability is not a sufficient basis upon which to exclude the statement. Our courts have approved statements from defendants
The record supports the finding that the interviews of July 3 and July 10 were admissible because appellant was not a suspect and Miranda warnings were not necessary. It does not matter that the interviews were conducted at the police station. Hardeman v. State, 252 Ga. 286 (1) (313 SE2d 95) (1984).
Having examined the record, we find that the trial court correctly concluded from a totality of the circumstances that the statements were made knowingly and voluntarily and were admissible.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.