Calmes v. State

The Court remanded the co-defendant's case for reconsideration of the grant of his appellate counsel's motion to withdraw, as the record did not show he knowingly waived his right to counsel or that the trial court found a functional equivalent thereof.

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Following a joint jury trial, Brandon Otis Calmes and Dennis Allen were each convicted of one count of armed robbery, four counts of aggravated assault and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. We have consolidated their appeals. As to Calmes’s case, we find that the trial court did not err by refusing to charge the jury on the defense of coercion because the evidence did not support the charge. We also find that the trial court did not manifestly abuse its discretion by denying Calmes’s motion for mistrial and instead substituting an alternate juror for a juror who had attempted to visit one of the crime scenes. We remand Allen’s case to the trial court for reconsideration of appellate counsel’s motion to withdraw because the record does not reflect that Allen knowingly waived his right to appellate counsel. When reviewing a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. Darnell v. State , 257 Ga. App. 555, 556 1 571 SE2d 547 2002. So viewed, the evidence shows that the victims, George Grover and his employee, Tommy Chapman, sold home theater and surround sound systems from the back of Grover’s GMC Yukon SUV. Grover would buy the components from a factory in California, assemble them and then sell them.

On August 26, 2008, the victims decided to sell systems in Hiram, Georgia, a growing area with new construction that had been a strong selling area before. They drove to a Bank of America parking lot and began speaking with the occupants of a gold Nissan Quest van: co-defendants Calmes and Allen, a woman named Kelsey Manning and a third man. The victims asked the occupants of the van if they would like to buy a sound system. They appeared interested, so one victim showed them a system. Manning said they had to go down the street to get money. The victims followed the van to a cul-de-sac in an apartment complex.

Calmes v. State

The Court remanded the co-defendant's case for reconsideration of the grant of his appellate counsel's motion to withdraw, as the record did not show he knowingly waived his right to counsel or that the trial court found a functional equivalent thereof.

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