Allen v. State

The state proved venue in Fulton County through the accomplice's and detective's testimony that the victim was shot in an area located in that county.

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Dennis Allen, Jr. was convicted of felony murder, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony arising out of the shooting death of taxi driver Friday Akoma. The trial court denied his motion for a new trial1 and he appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence regarding venue and the effectiveness of his trial counsel. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. The jury was authorized to find that Allen and Juanquella Stinchcomb, a 15-year-old prostitute, decided to rob someone. After failing to find an available victim, they called a taxicab to go home to Stone Mountain. Instead, Stinchcomb gave the driver, Friday Akoma, an address on Shelton Avenue. When they arrived, Allen shot Akoma in the head. He and Stinchcomb then moved Akoma into the back seat and drove the taxicab to a middle school in Fulton County where they disposed of the body. Allen and Stinchcomb abandoned the taxicab in DeKalb County and walked home. Allen’s finger prints were matched to prints made in blood that were found on the right rear window of the taxicab. Stinchcomb pled guilty to concealing the death of another and testified at trial that appellant shot Akoma and stole $18, a cell phone and a pager. Stinchcomb admitted she used the cell phone a week later and that the weapon used in the crimes was subsequently stolen while in the possession of another prostitute Stinchcomb knew. Two other witnesses, Cade and Parsons, testified that Allen admitted to them that he shot the taxi driver.

In Allen’s taped statement to the police he initially asserted that Stinchcomb approached him asking him to buy something and he suggested she approach a taxi driver. He later stated that he was together with Stinchcomb and had known her for months; that he provided her a gun for protection; that she returned telling him she was “in trouble” and had done “something wrong”; she took him to the taxicab where the victim was already dead; and that Allen helped her dispose of the body.

Allen v. State

The state proved venue in Fulton County through the accomplice's and detective's testimony that the victim was shot in an area located in that county.

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