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Martinez v. State

The trial court did not err in allowing the jury to consider the lesser included offense of false imprisonment after granting a directed verdict of acquittal on the kidnapping charges against the defendant.

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A jury convicted Cornell Elijah Martinez one count of armed robbery,1 one count of burglary,2 and six counts of false imprisonment.3 After a hearing, the trial court denied Martinez’s motion for a new trial. Martinez appeals, contending that the trial court erred because after granting a motion for directed verdicts of acquittal on six kidnapping charges, it allowed the jury to consider the lesser included charges of false imprisonment. Martinez also enumerates as error the trial court’s statement that, because of limited space, the public would be excluded from the courtroom during voir dire. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,4 the evidence shows that on February 2, 2007, two masked men accosted Pineda-Orrozquieta at gunpoint outside his home and demanded money and drugs. After entering his home, the men forced Pineda-Orrozquieta into a rear bedroom along with his pregnant wife, young daughter, and a co-worker. Pineda-Orrozquieta and his co-worker were forced to kneel on the floor, and their hands were bound with shoelaces and the cable of a cell phone charger. Pineda-Orrozquieta also saw two additional intruders in another bedroom tying the hands of his brother-in-law and a friend. The intruders forced Pineda-Orrozquieta and his co-worker into the kitchen and interrogated them about the location of the alleged money and drugs. When officers from the Norcross Police Department arrived in response to 911 calls placed by Pineda-Orrozquieta’s wife, they apprehended the four intruders. Police found Martinez in the rear bedroom attempting to flee from a window. He was wearing gloves and a ski mask, and was in possession of a 9mm handgun. Martinez admitted he entered Pineda-Orrozquieta’s home, but testified that he went to buy cocaine rather than to participate in an armed robbery.

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