Cummings v. State

Leon Cummings was indicted by a Chatham County grand jury for burglary, armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, all in connection with a home invasion robbery. A jury found him guilty on all counts, his amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appeals. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. Cummings first complains of the trial court’s denial of his motion in limine seeking to bar introduction of his videotaped statement to police, as well as his later motion for mistrial after the videotape was played for the jury. He contends that no legitimate purpose existed for introducing the statement because it was entirely exculpatory, and that the only purpose for its introduction by the State was to place his character in evidence through his references to a murder with which he previously had been charged. We disagree.

Cummings’s statement was not, as he contends, entirely exculpatory, nor was it irrelevant to the charges against him. One of the victims, a fourteen-year-old boy, positively identified Cummings by name as the perpetrator during a 911 call to police. During Cummings’s audiotaped statement, he first denied and then admitted knowing the victim; he also gave an account of the victim’s family and his knowledge of the victim that coincided almost exactly with the victim’s testimony.