Vanzant v. State
Vanzant v. State
Opinion of the Court
Defendant Dimitri Tyron Vanzant was convicted following a jury trial of selling cocaine in violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. We affirm.
Both of defendant’s enumerations of error challenge the trial court’s ruling allowing the State to present evidence of his in-custody statement. The record shows that after he was arrested defendant made the following statement to police: “I have sold crack cocaine in the past but only a few times. The cocaine I did sell belonged to
It is clear that defendant’s reference to past cocaine sales was designed to explain his involvement in the crime charged and was an integral part of his statement to police. “[T]he statements complained of were an integral part of a criminal confession, and such statements are not rendered inadmissible because the language used therein indicates that the accused had committed another and separate offense. [Cits.]” Dampier v. State, 245 Ga. 427, 434 (10) (265 SE2d 565) (1980). “In these circumstances, it is no valid ground of objection to the admission in evidence of an incriminatory statement or confession made by the accused in a criminal case that the language indicated that the accused had committed also another and separate offense. (Cits.) Ingram v. State, 253 Ga. 622, 638 (323 SE2d 801) (1984).” (Punctuation omitted.) Frazier v. State, 257 Ga. 690, 697 (14) (362 SE2d 351) (1987). Accord Burke v. State, 248 Ga. 124, 126 (3) (281 SE2d 607) (1981); Shavers v. State, 200 Ga. App. 76, 77 (2) (406 SE2d 803) (1991); Williams v. State, 192 Ga. App. 317 (384 SE2d 877) (1989); Thomas v. State, 158 Ga. App. 668 (2b) (281 SE2d 646) (1981). Consequently, defendant’s statement that he had sold cocaine on other occasions was admissible “regardless of whether or not the separate crimes to which [the defendant] confessed would otherwise be admissible as exceptions to the ‘other transactions’ rule. [Cit.]” Bradford v. State, 166 Ga. App. 584, 586 (4) (305 SE2d 32) (1983). Cf. Robinson v. State, 192 Ga. App. 32, 33-34 (383 SE2d 593) (1989) (in which the defendant’s statements concerning prior independent crimes “did not constitute an integral part of [the] criminal confession” and was not “an inseparable part of the total oral statement made to [police]”). Defendant’s arguments to this court on appeal are therefore without merit.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.