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Gomillion v. State

The search of the vehicle the defendant was driving when he was arrested was proper, because the vehicle's owner consented to the search and, even assuming that the defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the vehicle, he was not present and objecting at the time of the search so the owner's consent was all that was required for the search to be lawful.

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This is the second appearance of this case in this Court. In Gomillion v. State, 296 Ga. 678 769 SE2d 914 2015, we held that the evidence was legally sufficient to support appellant Michael Gomillion’s convictions relating to the shooting death of Clyde Chaney. Id. at 678-680. However, we also held that, in denying appellant’s motion for new trial, the trial court failed, in response to appellant’s request, to exercise its discretion to review the evidence as a thirteenth juror. Id. at 680-681. Without addressing appellant’s remaining enumerations of error, we therefore vacated the order denying the motion for new trial and remanded the case for the trial court to apply the proper standard to the general grounds. Id. at 681. On remand, the trial court exercised its discretion as a thirteenth juror and denied the motion for new trial. Appellant then filed this appeal. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

1. When Chaney was shot, he was at a drug or ‘trap’ house run by LaQuincy Bryant and Benny Clay. Early on in the day, appellant came by looking for Bryant, but Bryant was not at the house. Id. at 678. Before the shooting, Clay told Bryant that appellant had come by the house looking for him. At trial, over appellant’s hearsay objection, Bryant testified that, after the shooting, a neighbor told him that she had seen appellant running from the crime scene. Appellant contends that Bryant’s testimony regarding the neighbor’s statement was inadmissible hearsay and that the trial court erred by allowing it. We find no error.

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