Demons v. State

The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Crawford v. Washington, U.S. Case Number 02-9410. decided March 8, 2004, allows state courts to consider reliability factors beyond prior opportunity for cross-examination when hearsay statements are not testimonial and the Crawford case minimally defined testimonial statements as those made at a preliminary hearing, before a grand jury, at a former trial or during police interrogation.

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Eddie Demons was tried before a jury and found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony. The trial court merged one weapons possession count into the other, merged the aggravated assault into the felony murder, and entered judgments of conviction on the remaining counts. The Court imposed consecutive sentences of life imprisonment and a term of five years. The trial court denied a motion for new trial, and Demons appeals.1 1. Construed in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that Demons and the victim had been in a homosexual relationship for many years and shared a house. Demons began to threaten and beat the victim, who was in fear for his life. On the afternoon of the crimes, Demons called 911 and informed the dispatcher that he had just killed the victim and shot himself in the head. This admission was corroborated by the physical evidence. Police officers found Demons lying on the front steps of the house with a head wound. He informed them that the gun was in the house. The victim had three gunshot wounds and was discovered in his SUV in the driveway. The house was extremely neat except for the master bedroom, which contained blood all over and brain matter on the ceiling, and blood on a telephone and a revolver which fired the bullets recovered from the victim’s body. The evidence, which was both direct and circumstantial, authorized the jury to find Demons guilty of felony murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony beyond a reasonable doubt and to the exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis save that of guilt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; White v. State , 276 Ga. 583, 588 2 581 SE2d 18 2003; Kirkland v. State , 271 Ga. 217, 218 1 518 SE2d 687 1999.

2. Demons contends that the trial court erroneously failed to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter.

Demons v. State

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