Davis v. State

Schedrick Davis was found guilty by a jury of one count of entering an auto with intent to commit theft, in violation of OCGA § 16-8-18.1 Davis was sentenced to five years to serve, and he appeals following the denial of his motion for new trial. In this appeal, he raises the general grounds and challenges rulings by the trial court denying his motion for mistrial and refusing to strike a juror for cause. We find no error and affirm. 1. Davis maintains that the evidence was entirely circumstantial and failed to exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than his guilt. We do not agree.

The evidence presented at trial showed that at approximately 1:30 a.m., an Atlanta police sergeant was working a second job as a security guard at a scrap metal yard on Marietta Street in Atlanta when he received a call informing him that an alarm had been activated at a nearby transmission shop for which he also provided security. He drove to the transmission shop and upon arrival he heard “metal on metal, like somebody rumbling through something.” He peered around the cars, which were parked close together. The officer’s “quick-peek” revealed “a black male in dark clothing” in a light colored Thunderbird. He then called for on-duty officers to back him up, informing the dispatcher that he “had an individual that was there breaking into cars.” Backup officers arrived shortly thereafter. The officers arranged to cover different sides of the perimeter of the business, and within minutes the off-duty officer received a radio call informing him that a person fitting the description he gave had been observed carrying something away from the premises.