Dailey v. State

Michael Dailey was charged by indictment with two counts of armed robbery stemming from two hotel robberies committed during the month of September 2000.1 The jury found him guilty on one count of armed robbery and acquitted him on the other charge. After entry of judgment, Dailey’s out-of-time motion for new trial was denied, and he brings this appeal. Dailey raises three enumerations of error, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and contending that the trial court erred in denying his motion to sever the offenses and in admitting the testimony of the State’s fingerprint expert. Finding no error, we affirm. Construed to support the jury’s verdict, the evidence presented at trial showed that on August 9, 2000, at approximately 8:00 p.m., Dailey entered the Drury Inn in Cobb County and sat in the lobby near a complimentary coffee cart. Dailey then approached the front desk, stood “pretty much” directly in front of front desk clerk Mark Gibson, and requested a new room key. When he was asked for identification, he presented a note saying “Give me your money now,” which was hand-printed on one of the hotel’s customer satisfaction survey cards. Such cards were found in the hotel’s guest room, at the front desk, and on tables in the hotel’s lobby and coffee area.

At first, Gibson and other employees thought Dailey might be joking, but when Dailey showed what appeared to be a “chrome pistol” and demanded money, they quickly realized that it was a robbery. They emptied the cash register, and Dailey took the money and fled, leaving behind the note. Gibson described the man who had robbed him as a stocky, “not quite 6-foot” African-American wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.