State v. Brown

A federal indictment involving parties unrelated to the defendants was not admissible in the defendants' trial because the indictment was mere hearsay.

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In this pre-trial appeal pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1 a 5, the State seeks reversal of the trial court’s order determining that a federal indictment involving parties unrelated to Appellees will be inadmissible at Appellees’ trial. We find no abuse of discretion, and we therefore affirm.

In August 2014, a DeKalb County grand jury returned a 21-count indictment against Appellees Malcolm Brown, Demetre Edward Mason, Frankland Henderson, Michael Hasker Jenkins, Jaimee E. Harrell, Katrina A. Shardow, and Traon Joshua Turk, on charges of murder, armed robbery, robbery by force, car-jacking, and numerous violations of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, OCGA §§ 16-15-1 et seq., and Georgia RICO Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, OCGA §§ 16-14-1 et seq. This indictment alleges that Appellees are members of a particular set of the United Blood Nation criminal street gang known as the Nine Trey Gangsters or NTG Bloods, who, during April and May 2014, committed a series of crimes and engaged in racketeering activities. During pre-trial proceedings, the State filed a motion seeking a ruling on the admissibility of a 13-count federal indictment charging unrelated defendants with crimes and racketeering activities in association with an NTG Bloods set operating in Virginia. The State contends that information in the federal indictment is required to prove certain essential elements of the alleged violations of Georgia’s street gang act, specifically, the existence of a criminal street gang and the commission of criminal gang activity, as those terms are defined in the statute. See OCGA § 16-15-3.1 In the alternative, the State contends that the indictment is admissible under OCGA § 24-4-404 b to prove motive. The trial court denied the State’s motion.

State v. Brown

A federal indictment involving parties unrelated to the defendants was not admissible in the defendants' trial because the indictment was mere hearsay.

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