Sweet v. State

The evidence showed that the victim heard the sound of the cash register drawer opening and suspected that the defendant took money from the register before he completed the robbery by sudden snatching.

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A jury convicted Montrell Sweet of one count of robbery by sudden snatching, and he filed this appeal after the trial court denied his motion for new trial.1 For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence showed that on January 9, 2002, Sweet entered a restaurant in Cobb County and walked to the counter. Sweet first told the cashier, Juanita Lopez, that he wanted to use the pay phone. Two other restaurant customers, Jerry Parham and plain-clothes police officer, Sergeant Joseph Bennett, noticed Sweet pacing back and forth, turning around to look around the restaurant and acting “real fidgety” for about five to ten minutes. Sweet then placed a take-out order and asked Lopez for a napkin. Lopez turned and walked ten to eleven feet to retrieve the napkin. While she had her back to Sweet, he reached over the counter, opened the cash register drawer and took a stack of bills. As she turned away from Sweet, Lopez heard the cash register drawer open and thought that Sweet was taking money. But she was afraid to confront Sweet by herself, so she waited to hear the cash register drawer close before turning back around and handing him the napkin. She saw Sweet’s hand go into his right front pants pocket, and he left without waiting for his food. Parham saw Sweet take the money, and Bennett saw Sweet turn quickly and put something in his right pocket before hurrying out the door.

Lopez immediately called 911, and, noticing Sergeant Bennett in the restaurant, yelled to him that Sweet had stolen money from the cash register. Bennett followed Sweet outside and saw him driving away. The sergeant reported the incident to the Smyrna Police Department and gave a description of Sweet’s car. The Smyrna police stopped Sweet about one-half mile from the restaurant and found $160 in $20 bills in his right front pocket. Lopez and Parham identified Sweet as the man who took the money from the cash register.

Sweet v. State

The evidence showed that the victim heard the sound of the cash register drawer opening and suspected that the defendant took money from the register before he completed the robbery by sudden snatching.

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