Manuel v. State
Manuel v. State
Opinion of the Court
Rapheal Bryant, Chadwick Parks, and Richard Shun Manuel were charged with burglary, robbery by force, and aggravated assault on a person over the age of 65 years. Bryant was given a reduced sentence and testified against Parks and Manuel at their joint trial. Parks was found guilty of the first two offenses, and his convictions were affirmed in Parks v. State.
The evidence showed that after the co-indictees broke into the victim’s home, Bryant and Manuel threw a blanket over his head, struck him with a gun, and restrained him while Parks stole $2,000 cash and other items. Manuel’s cousin testified that she had overheard the co-indictees plan the robbery and that, after commission of the crimes, they returned to her apartment and Bryant told her what the trio had done.
1. Manuel contends that the trial court erred in overruling his hearsay objection to his cousin’s testimony concerning Bryant’s out-of-court statements. There is no merit in this contention. Bryant’s extrajudicial statements constituted declarations of a conspirator made during the concealment phase of a conspiracy and were, therefore, admissible against his co-conspirator Manuel.
2. Manuel next contends that the trial court erred in imposing separate sentences for robbery by force and aggravated assault on a person over the age of 65 years, because these offenses merged.
“Under Georgia law, offenses merge and multiple punishment is prohibited if one offense is included in the other as a matter of law or fact. [Cit.]”
Because the crimes of robbery by force and aggravated assault on a person over the age of 65 years have different elements and prohibit different conduct, neither is included in the other as a matter of law. Nor are they included offenses as a matter of fact in this case. The indictment alleged that the robbery of the victim was “by force.”
Judgment affirmed.
240 Ga. App. 45 (522 SE2d 532) (1999).
OCGA § 24-3-5; Jones v. State, 265 Ga. 84 (2) (453 SE2d 716) (1995).
Wells v. State, 222 Ga. App. 587, 588 (3) (474 SE2d 764) (1996); see OCGA §§ 16-1-6 (1); 16-1-7 (a) (1).
See Hardy v. State, 210 Ga. App. 811, 813 (3) (437 SE2d 790) (1993).
See Chadwick v. State, 236 Ga. App. 199, 202 (3) (511 SE2d 286) (1999).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.