Grimes v. State

The trial court did not err in denying the defendant's motion to bifurcate his trial with regard to the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, since the possession charge was integral to the defendant's indictment for felony murder.

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Following his convictions for malice murder, felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Dennis Jackson Grimes appeals, contending, among other things, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict for murder and armed robbery.1 We affirm. The record supports a finding that Grimes phoned his co-defendant, Adrian Tennison, and asked him to meet him at a certain Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on December 30, 2002. Around the time that Tennison and Grimes were scheduled to meet, Catherine Gambill attempted to make a daily deposit of her employer’s proceeds at a bank nearby the Kentucky Fried Chicken. In the bank’s parking lot, Grimes walked up to Gambill’s van, mumbled something, and tried to open the van door, but moved away when Gambill said “no.” When Gambill stepped out of the van, Grimes rushed at her with a handgun and demanded the money. Gambill threw the money on the ground. Grimes then retrieved it and ran through a wooded area to the adjacent parking lot where Tennison was waiting in his cream-colored Honda Civic. There, Grimes was witnessed hopping into the trunk of Tennison’s car, and one bank patron followed Tennison’s car and wrote down the tag number.

After the robbery, Tennison asked Grimes to get out of his car, and Tennison then went to the home of his cousin, Jason Stevens. While there, he called Ronnie Davis to take him to his home in Roberta, Georgia. Davis did so, and Tennison left his car at Stevens’ home. Davis later told his sister that he knew that Tennison and Grimes had committed an armed robbery and he was fearful of imprisonment for his involvement. He further informed his sister that he intended to turn Grimes and Tennison in to the police for the armed robbery.

Grimes v. State

The trial court did not err in denying the defendant's motion to bifurcate his trial with regard to the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, since the possession charge was integral to the defendant's indictment for felony murder.

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