Fortson v. State

The state properly impeached the defendant's testimony that his co-defendant coerced him into forging one of the victim's checks on the day of the robbery with evidence that the defendant forged another check without coercion six days later.

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An indictment was returned charging Alcindor Fortson and Gregory Wade with the armed robbery of Joseph Fulcher and burglary of his residence. The cases were severed for trial. Fortson appeals his conviction of burglary and sentence to 20 years imprisonment. He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdict, the admission of evidence that he committed a crime not charged in the indictment, and the court’s consideration of a presentence investigation report. Finding the evidence sufficient and an absence of reversible error, we affirm.

At the time of trial, Fulcher was 78 years old. He sells cars from his residence. He testified that on July 17, 1998, two men appeared at his door. In describing the men, Fulcher could say only that one was bigger than the other. Fulcher testified that when he answered the door, the smaller man announced that he had been at Fulcher’s house a few weeks earlier looking at a car but, on this occasion, had come to rob him. According to Fulcher, the smaller man then pushed him backwards. Once inside the house, the larger man pistol whipped Fulcher, “busted his head open” and caused abrasions to numerous areas of his body. In short order, the men took Fulcher’s billfold, but expressed dissatisfaction with the cash and checks in it. Fulcher told them that he had a small amount of cash in a jar in the bathroom linen closet. The smaller man went into the bathroom and removed the contents of the jar, which included three certificates of deposit and cash. Afterward, the men fled. Later that day, a forged check drawn on Fulcher’s account and made payable to Gregory Wade was cashed. Through expert testimony, the handwriting on the check was shown to be Fortson’s. His fingerprints were also lifted from Fulcher’s bathroom.

Fortson v. State

The state properly impeached the defendant's testimony that his co-defendant coerced him into forging one of the victim's checks on the day of the robbery with evidence that the defendant forged another check without coercion six days later.

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