Ferguson v. State

A video camera recorded the theft of the vehicle in question, and the defendant admitted that he was the man in the recordings, walking past the vehicle more than once, wearing similar clothing to the masked man, who eventually stole the car.

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Derrick Ferguson was tried by jury and was convicted of several crimes, including two counts of theft by taking a motor vehicle in violation of OCGA § 16-8-2. Ferguson appeals from his conviction and the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that 1 the evidence adduced at trial is insufficient to sustain his conviction on one count of theft by taking a motor vehicle and 2 his trial counsel failed to object to the admission of certain “bad character” evidence and, therefore, was ineffective. We disagree and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,1 the record shows that, on November 24, 2006, Ferguson was living at a residential facility in Dalton operated by Providence Ministries. Early that afternoon, a woman parked her Toyota Camry in the front of the thrift store that Providence Ministries operated at the same location and went into the store to shop, leaving her car unlocked and the keys in the car. When she later exited the store, she discovered that her car had been stolen.

The premises of Providence Ministries were monitored by a video surveillance system, and police officers reviewed video recordings made at or around the time of the theft as a part of their investigation. These recordings, which were admitted at trial, show a man —wearing khaki pants, a light shirt, and a dark jacket —walking by the parked Camry several times and, on at least one occasion, looking into it. The same recordings show a man —wearing khaki pants, a light shirt, and a dark object wrapped about his head —enter the vehicle a few minutes later and drive away. Late on the afternoon of November 24, a police officer spoke with Ferguson, who was wearing khaki pants, a light shirt, and a blue jacket. Ferguson admitted to the officer that he is the man depicted in the recordings walking near the Camry,2 but he denied stealing the car. Ferguson was not arrested at that time.

Ferguson v. State

A video camera recorded the theft of the vehicle in question, and the defendant admitted that he was the man in the recordings, walking past the vehicle more than once, wearing similar clothing to the masked man, who eventually stole the car.

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