Sullivan v. State

The trial court properly declined to merge the defendant's convictions for criminal damage to property in the first degree and criminal damage to property in the second degree arising from his assault on a private investigator his wife had hired to conduct surveillance on him and his paramour.

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Following a jury trial, Michael Sullivan was convicted of one count of aggravated assault, one count of criminal damage to property in the first degree, and one count of criminal damage to property in the second degree. He appeals following the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that the trial court erred in failing to merge the two counts of criminal damage to property and that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object during the State’s closing argument. Finding no error, we affirm.

Following a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. So viewed, the record shows that in 2008, Sullivan was in the process of a divorce, and his wife hired a private investigative firm to conduct surveillance on him and his paramour. Janette Gagnon worked as a private investigator for the firm and was assigned to conduct surveillance of Sullivan while his wife was out of town. On the morning of September 6, 2008, she positioned herself at the corner of Bethel Road and Brown’s Bridge Road in Gainesville, Georgia to monitor certain vehicles coming or going from Sullivan’s nearby house. At approximately 3:00 p.m., she saw one of the vehicles turn onto Bethel Road, and she proceeded to follow the vehicle down Bethel Road and onto Lake Hollow, the street where Sullivan’s house was located. She passed Sullivan’s house but lost track of the vehicle and decided to return to her previous post. As she was driving back to Bethel Road, a large, four-wheel all-terrain vehicle “ATV” came up out of the woods and drove right up to the rear bumper of her car. She saw the driver standing up over the handlebars of the ATV and recognized him as Sullivan. Realizing that Sullivan had caught on to the surveillance, Gagnon called her partner, Ben Pierce, who had also set up surveillance nearby, to let him know.

Sullivan v. State

The trial court properly declined to merge the defendant's convictions for criminal damage to property in the first degree and criminal damage to property in the second degree arising from his assault on a private investigator his wife had hired to conduct surveillance on him and his paramour.

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