This case arises from a series of crimes committed or allegedly committed by Eric Perkinson on the same day in two counties. Perkinson was convicted in Bartow County of malice murder and other offenses and he received the death penalty for the murder. In the present case, DeKalb County is seeking to try him on several charges arising out of the same criminal transaction. Perkinson unsuccessfully filed a plea in bar claiming that the DeKalb County prosecution is barred by double jeopardy. While awaiting trial in DeKalb County, Perkinson exercised his right to appeal the trial court’s denial of his plea in bar on grounds of double jeopardy. See Torres v. State, 270 Ga. 79 508 SE2d 171 1998; Patterson v. State, 248 Ga. 875 287 SE2d 7 1982.
For the purposes of the plea in bar, the parties stipulated to the following facts, which were essentially taken from the evidence presented at the Bartow County trial. On June 6, 1998, the victims, Dakarai Sloley and Louis Nava, were parked in DeKalb County in a BMW automobile belonging to Sloley’s aunt, when Perkinson and an accomplice entered the back seat of the car. At gunpoint, Perkinson and the accomplice forced the victims to drive a short distance. While still in DeKalb County, Perkinson demanded and received cash from both victims. Perkinson then ordered Sloley to stop the car in a church parking lot in DeKalb County, where they rendezvoused with a green Toyota driven by two more accomplices. Sloley was made to sit in the front passenger seat of the BMW and Nava was forced into the BMW’s trunk. The four perpetrators then drove the two cars north on I-75 to Bartow County, where they stopped in a wooded, secluded location. Perkinson and an accomplice marched Nava into the woods where Perkinson shot him several times, killing him. Perkinson returned to the BMW and told Sloley it was his “turn.” While being marched into the woods, Sloley attempted to escape. Perkinson fired several times and a bullet broke Sloley’s arm, but he kept running and got away. Perkinson and his three accomplices were arrested shortly thereafter.
