Hendrix v. State

Johnny Hendrix challenges his conviction of aggravated battery on the grounds that the State failed to prove venue and that the trial court improperly limited cross examination. Because we find that venue was established under OCGA § 17-2-2, and because the court did not abuse its discretion regarding the scope of cross-examination, we affirm.

Construed in favor of the verdict the facts show that Hendrix picked up his ex-girlfriend, Mamie Moore, from her cousin’s home in Chatham County. He had told her that her son had been shot and he offered to drive her to see him. Moore testified that the two “started like we was going to Metter and then we stopped on Derenne and White Bluff to the service station” and got gas. Then “we started going down 16,” and after some time he grabbed her hair and “started beating her” while he was driving. At one point he pulled over “to the side of 16,” but then continued. Then, “he pulled off on Ash Branch Road and. . . and started beating me more. . . .” Hendrix then pulled her back into the van, and as they were coming “back into town,” “he kept on beating me in my face. . . .” He then took her to his home on Dean Forest Road, but she did not testify to any beating there. Testimony and photographs introduced at trial revealed that Moore’s eye was severely bruised and swollen as a result of the incident.