Washington v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's generic pretrial request for funds to hire a criminal investigator or in denying his midtrial renewed request for an accident reconstruction expert, since the defendant was able to cross-examine and challenge the state's eyewitnesses, who testified that the accident in question was intentional.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Following a jury trial, Terrance Washington appeals from his conviction of theft by taking,1 aggravated assault2 three counts, hijacking a motor vehicle,3 and possession of a firearm during a felony against a person.4 Specifically, Washington contends that the trial court erred by 1 failing to grant a mistrial after a witness interjected allegedly improper character evidence, and 2 refusing to make funds available for an expert witness. Discerning no reversible error, we affirm. “On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, an appellate court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility.” Punctuation omitted. Eady v. State .5 So viewed, the evidence shows that after an argument with Donza Coley Washington’s former girlfriend and a police officer, Washington spotted her from his car at a convenience store. Washington pulled in, blocking her car, and ordered her to go to her house. Coley feigned agreement and drove away. Washington pursued, pulled alongside her, and cut her off with his car, striking her car. Washington exited his car and approached Coley with a handgun, which turned out to be the service weapon she kept at her house. Washington threatened to shoot Coley and then forcibly pulled her out of her car, beating her with the gun. After Coley refused Washington’s orders to get into his car, Washington turned the gun on himself and pled with Coley as she got back into her car.

As Coley drove back into town, Washington pursued at high speed and again steered his car into hers causing them both to crash violently. Coley fled on foot, and Washington fired the weapon at her at least twice, missing her. Coley continued running and eventually flagged down another officer, who took Coley into her car. Meanwhile, a bystander had driven to the crash scene, where Washington took her truck at gunpoint and drove away.

Washington v. State

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report