Holmes v. State

The victim's spontaneous statement during his struggle with the defendant was admissible as part of the res gestae of the crime.

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Morris Scott Holmes appeals in this case from his conviction for felony murder.1 The evidence at trial established that Jerome Morrison bled to death after having been stabbed three times with a knife in a struggle with Holmes. The struggle was the second of two which occurred between the two men on the same evening in an apartment where Holmes had invited Morrison to stay. During the first altercation, witness Nnamdi Moore observed Morrison and Holmes wrestling on the floor, with Morrison seeming to be in control. In the second altercation, Moore found Holmes and Morrison in a struggle against a wall. Moore started to grab Morrison, but after hearing him exclaim that Holmes had stabbed him, Moore grabbed Holmes instead, pulled him away, and saw a knife in his hand. When Moore asked Holmes why he stabbed Morrison, Holmes asked Moore, “Do you want some, too” Holmes went to the nearby home of his brothers, who observed that he appeared to be under the influence of alcohol, but did not appear to have any wounds or blood on him. Kelvin Ward also witnessed the second fight and followed Morrison out of the apartment where Morrison asked that an ambulance be summoned. While Morrison was being treated by emergency medical personnel, Ward heard him tell police officers that Holmes had stabbed him. Holmes denied that anyone was in the apartment to witness his fight with Morrison. Holmes further claimed he was defending himself, Morrison was the one who had the knife, and he must have stabbed himself three times.

1. The evidence adduced at trial, though circumstantial, was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Holmes guilty of felony murder aggravated assault beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Blair v. State, 273 Ga. 668 1 543 SE2d 685 2001 evidence sufficient for rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant did not act in self defense.

Holmes v. State

The victim's spontaneous statement during his struggle with the defendant was admissible as part of the res gestae of the crime.

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