Garland v. State

Richard Garland was convicted of three counts of burglary, two counts of rape, one count of robbery, one count of armed robbery and one count of aggravated assault. He appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict and the trial court’s denial of his motions for continuance and mistrial. We find that there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict and that the trial court did not err in denying Garland’s motions. Therefore, we affirm his convictions.

Garland’s charges arose from three incidents where a man concealing his face and hair broke into the home of 72-year-old Barbara Williams. On November 7, 1995, Williams fell asleep in a chair in her living room and was awakened by the man’s presence in her home. He demanded money, led her through the house looking for her purse, pushed her down on the floor, had intercourse with her forcibly and against her will, and took four or five of her rings. On January 22, 1996, the man broke into Williams’ home again as she slept in a living room chair, brandished a knife to her, and said, “I want your money and I’ll kill you if you don’t give it to me.” He then took money from Williams’s purse. Then, on February 19th, 1996, the man awakened Williams around midnight as she slept in her bed. He again demanded money, but she had none. Before leaving, the man took Williams from her bed, pushed her to the floor and had intercourse with her forcibly and against her will.