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Bonilla v. State

Testimony regarding the murder victim's statement that He got me was clearly admissible under the res gestae exception to the hearsay rule, as the statement was made while the events were happening and before the victim had time to deliberate.

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Manuel Bonilla was convicted of the murder of Jose Reyes and the aggravated assault of Jose Cruz.1 He appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court’s allowing a hearsay statement into evidence against him. We affirm. 1. The evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, showed the following. On the night of December 24, 1999, Jose Cruz threw a Christmas party at his Gwinnett County apartment for friends and family, who were originally from the same town in El Salvador. Bonilla was one of the guests. When Bonilla drank too much and became belligerent, Cruz asked him to leave because someone said Bonilla was armed with a knife. After angrily throwing his coat down, Bonilla started to leave. Another guest, Jose Reyes, picked up the coat and followed Bonilla outside to give it to him, as the night was cold.

It was dark and Bonilla was standing to the side of the entryway, but Cruz saw Reyes recoil from Bonilla. Cruz then heard Reyes say, “He got me,” and saw Reyes touch his chest. He had been stabbed. Cruz then followed Bonilla to urge him to wait at the apartment until the police arrived, but Bonilla stabbed Cruz too. Cruz survived; Reyes, however, died at 10 a.m. on Christmas morning. Bonilla fled to El Salvador but returned to the United States several years later. He was arrested in Missouri and returned to Georgia to stand trial.

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