Swain v. State

The defendant voluntarily gave his statement, was 15 years old, could read and write, read aloud and signed the Miranda warnings and waiver, wrote out a statement and never asked to speak with his guardian or an attorney.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

A Clayton County jury found Cameron Swain guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of armed robbery, OCGA § 16-8-41 a, and possession of a weapon during a crime, OCGA § 16-11-106 b 1. On appeal, he contends the trial court erred in admitting his confession to a police officer. Finding no error, we affirm. Swain’s conviction is the result of an armed robbery of a pizza delivery man in November 2004. At the time of the robbery, Swain was 15 years old and in the tenth grade. Swain and a friend from school, Eldrick Nelson, committed the robbery at the home of an accomplice, who had ordered three pizzas. When the pizza delivery man brought the pizzas to the door, Swain ran up to the man and the accomplice, pointed a handgun at the delivery man’s stomach, demanded money, forced the man to the ground, and hit him in the head with the gun. The accomplice pretended to be an innocent victim of the robbery as the robbers also “forced” him to the ground. Swain and Nelson took the delivery man’s wallet and cell phone. A few days later, police officers stopped Swain while he was walking down the street with the accomplice in the same general area as the armed robbery.1 Officers found a handgun and a cell phone in Swain’s possession, and Swain was charged as a juvenile with possession of a concealed weapon.

After police officers determined that the cell phone in Swain’s pocket belonged to the pizza delivery man, a police detective interviewed Swain about the armed robbery. At the time, Swain was in custody based on the juvenile charge, but had not been charged with the robbery. During the interview, which was visually recorded, Swain confessed to committing the armed robbery in the manner described above.

Swain v. State

The defendant voluntarily gave his statement, was 15 years old, could read and write, read aloud and signed the Miranda warnings and waiver, wrote out a statement and never asked to speak with his guardian or an attorney.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report