Shields v. State

William Webster Shields appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to vacate his convictions and sentences based on allegedly improper venue. Because Shields failed to raise this issue in his direct appeal, he is not entitled to a second appeal, and we affirm. 1. Shields, along with several others, was indicted in Fulton County for the 1990 murder of Thomas Kidwell. Prior to Shields’s capture in 1994, some of his co-defendants were convicted under the Fulton County indictment.1 After his capture, the State became aware of new information that placed venue in DeKalb County, and accordingly, Shields was prosecuted and convicted in DeKalb County. Shields did not raise the alleged lack of venue in his direct appeal.2

Now for the first time, Shields claims that his convictions in DeKalb County were void because of a lack of proper venue. Shields asserts that the State had already proven venue for the crime in Fulton County in the trial of his co-defendants and, therefore, was prohibited from proving venue for the same murder in DeKalb County. However, the only issue with respect to the validity of Shields’s convictions is whether the State proved venue beyond a reasonable doubt in its prosecution of him.3 Here, the evidence shows that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the crimes were committed in DeKalb County.