Green v. State

Slight differences in the size, shading or clarity of photographs used in an identification line-up do not render a line-up impermissibly suggestive.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

After a jury trial, Appellant Sam Green was found guilty of the malice and felony murder of Candy Wright, a separate charge of aggravated assault against Ms. Wright, and the rape and aggravated assault of Leanna Ziel. The felony murder verdict was vacated by operation of law, and the charge of aggravated assault against Ms. Wright was merged into the malice murder count. The trial court entered judgments of conviction on the remaining guilty verdicts and imposed consecutive sentences of life imprisonment for murder and for rape and 20 years for aggravated assault. A motion for new trial was denied, and Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal.1

1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that, in the early morning hours of July 6, 2007, Curtis White saw Appellant on top of Ms. Wright in a filthy shed and was told to keep going. Shortly thereafter, Appellant exited the shed, spoke with White, and started to run away. White checked on Ms. Wright, found her almost completely unclothed, realized that she was dead, told Vincent Robinson to call the police, and later identified Appellant in a photographic lineup and in court. Ms. Wright died of manual strangulation with multiple sharp force and blunt force injuries, and Appellant’s DNA was found on the genital, rectal, and buttocks areas of her body. Appellant admitted that he had consensual sex with Ms. Wright on several occasions. In the early morning hours of September 24, 2007, Appellant grabbed Ms. Ziel, pushed her through a fence hole and onto some steps, held her neck with his hand to the point that she could not breathe, raped her, and fled. Ms. Ziel noticed and later identified Appellant’s skull’s head belt buckle, which was found in his bedroom and identified as his by his sister. Appellant’s DNA was recovered in semen from Ms. Ziel’s vaginal and rectal areas, and she identified him in court.

Green v. State

Slight differences in the size, shading or clarity of photographs used in an identification line-up do not render a line-up impermissibly suggestive.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report