Schramm v. State

The evidence belied the defendant's contention that a mechanical failure in his steering column caused him to hit the murder victim whose body landed 83 feet away from defendant's van.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

While a pedestrian on a McDuffie County road, Kyle Conrad White III was struck and killed by a van driven by appellant Mathew David Schramm. Schramm was convicted of malice murder in connection with White’s death, as well as the aggravated assault of Charles William Odum, who was walking with White.1

Odum testified he and White saw the van driven by appellant coming at them and that it accelerated as it left the road and bore down on them, causing Odum to believe they were going to die. When the van struck the victim, his head cracked the windshield and his body landed 83 feet away. He died as a result of the massive head injuries he sustained. Both Odum and a friend of appellant testified about the hostility between the victim and appellant that had developed as a result of appellant’s girlfriend having become romantically involved with the victim. Appellant’s friend testified that, several months before the victim was killed, appellant fired a shotgun in the direction of the victim’s home while the victim was standing in the front yard, and that appellant, while driving the van, had chased the victim who was riding a motorcycle down a dirt road, hitting the motorcycle two or three times. There was testimony that appellant had several times threatened to kill the victim. While appellant asserted that the victim’s death was the result of a problem with the van’s steering column, an accident reconstruction expert testified that the crime scene was not consistent with mechanical failure. Contrary to appellant’s contention, the evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to conclude that appellant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder and aggravated assault. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. See also Chester v. State, 262 Ga. 85 1 414 SE2d 477 1992.

Schramm v. State

The evidence belied the defendant's contention that a mechanical failure in his steering column caused him to hit the murder victim whose body landed 83 feet away from defendant's van.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report