Guice v. State
Guice v. State
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was charged in an indictment with two counts of armed robbery. The evidence adduced at a jury trial reveals that defendant committed both offenses during a convenience store holdup. The first robbery occurred when defendant used a handgun to coerce the store’s counter clerk to give him money from the cash register. The second robbery occurred a few minutes later after defendant attempted to coerce the counter clerk and another store employee into a back room. When the victims refused to go, defendant took the counter clerk’s purse and fled. A few minutes later, a law enforcement officer apprehended defendant near the crime scene. Defendant was in possession of a handgun, “a wad of bills . . .’’anda check from the convenience store’s cash register.
The jury found defendant guilty on both counts of the indictment. This appeal followed. Held:
1. Defendant contends the trial court should have excluded three eyewitnesses’ identification testimony because on-the-scene photographic showups using his driver’s license were impermissibly suggestive.
Pretermitting whether the photographic showups in question
In the case sub judice, the eyewitnesses had ample opportunity to observe the robber during commission of the crimes charged, all three witnesses observed the armed robber from short distances and under highly luminous conditions, the witnesses were focused on the armed robber’s activities, the photographic showups were, conducted less than 30 minutes after commission of the crimes charged, and all three eyewitnesses decisively identified defendant as the perpetrator of the crimes charged. These circumstances demonstrate that there is little, if any, likelihood of misidentification due to the on-the-scene showup procedures that were employed in the case sub judice. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in admitting the three eyewitnesses’ identification testimony at trial.
2. Defendant asserts that the mandatory sentencing provisions contained in OCGA § 17-10-7 (b) (2) violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. “The Georgia Supreme Court held in Yearby v. State, 259 Ga. 461 (385 SE2d 414) (1989) that an appellant is without standing to contest the validity of OCGA § 17-10-7 until such time as he claimed a right of parole, and the statute was asserted against him as a bar.” Stevens v. State, 210 Ga. App. 355, 356 (4) (436 SE2d 82). Accordingly, defendant’s assertion is premature.
3. Contrary to defendant’s final three enumerations, the evidence was more than sufficient to authorize the jury’s finding that he is guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, of committing the crimes charged in the indictment. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560).
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.