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Martin v. State

Because the defendant had not admitted into evidence the audio recording of his post-detention statement or a transcript of such, the Court of Appeals found that the defendant failed to carry his burden on appeal of proving that the trial court erred in granting the State's motion in limine to exclude the statement.

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After a jury trial, Ronnie David Martin was convicted of criminal trespass OCGA § 16-7-21, theft by taking motor vehicle OCGA § 16-8-2, and felony theft by taking OCGA § 16-8-2. Martin appeals from the conviction and judgment, arguing that the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion in limine to exclude his post-detention statements to an investigator as self-serving hearsay. Finding no error, we affirm.

The evidence that most strongly supports the verdicts was as follows: Deputy Nix of the Hall County Sheriff’s department pulled over a white Ford Ranger truck because it was driving at a very slow speed and because the truck’s rear end was riding suspiciously low and was swaying from side to side. He testified that the truck bed was “overflowing” with metal tools, including several three-foot augers sitting on the top of the pile. When Deputy Nix approached the car, Kevin Williamson was driving the truck and Martin was seated atop a 50-pound bag of sugar in the passenger’s seat, and Martin was surrounded by a laptop, computer equipment, and electrical tools. Because Williamson and Nix could not provide credible answers as to how they came to possess the truck or its contents or where they were going, and because the driver was sweating and seemed very nervous, Deputy Nix detained and handcuffed the men.

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