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Watson v. State

The defendant voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to a jury trial.

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Following a bench trial, Dukar Watson was convicted for the murders of Chauncey Fleming, Eddie McMillan, and Nekeba Turner, as well as for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.1 On appeal, he alleges that the waiver of his right to a jury trial was constitutionally deficient. Because we find that the waiver satisfied constitutional requirements and Watson’s other enumeration of error is without merit, we affirm his convictions.

1. In the early morning hours of February 5, 1996, Dukar Watson and four companions went to the apartment of Watson’s acquaintance Chauncey Fleming, ostensibly to watch television and smoke marijuana, but with the intention of robbing Fleming of proceeds from illegal drug sales. At a pre-arranged signal, Watson and his accomplices subdued Fleming. They also subdued Eddie McMillan and Nekeba Turner, two other residents of the apartment. They then killed all three occupants of the apartment by shooting them in the head and ransacked the apartment, stealing stereo equipment, jewelry, and various other items. They never found the drug money. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s determination of Watson’s guilt, we conclude that there was sufficient evidence from which a rational trier of fact could have found Watson guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted.2

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