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Price v. State

The trial court erred in failing to give an instruction on mistake of fact, which the evidence authorized.

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In Price v. State , 303 Ga. App. 589 693 SE2d 826 2010, the Court of Appeals upheld Robert Price’s convictions for burglary and criminal trespass, and further held that the trial court did not err in failing to charge the jury on Price’s sole defense with respect to the crime of burglary mistake of fact.1 We granted review to determine whether the Court of Appeals properly found no error in the trial court’s failure to charge the jury as to the defense of mistake of fact. For the reasons that follow, we reverse. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the record reveals that Price was caught inside a ransacked home by the homeowner’s daughter, who testified that she heard Price rummaging in the kitchen. At trial Price asserted that he entered the home through an unlocked door because he thought he saw “for sale by owner” and “open house” signs posted in front of the home and was assisting his mother in looking for a house. Two other men, who were with Price, testified that they too saw “for sale” and “open house” signs. Nevertheless, the jury apparently rejected this testimony and found Price guilty of burglary and criminal trespass.

The evidence outlined above was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Price guilty of all the crimes for which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. See also Dean v. State , 273 Ga. 806, 807 546 SE2d 499 2002 “Resolving evidentiary conflicts and inconsistencies, and assessing witness credibility, are the province of the factfinder, not this Court” citation and punctuation omitted; OCGA § 24-4-6 conviction based on circumstantial evidence authorized where proved facts are consistent with the hypothesis of guilt and exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused.

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