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Greenv.State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S12A0853
DecidedJune 25, 2012
Reporter291 Ga. 287; 728 S.E.2d 668; 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 1991; 2012 WL 2369433; 2012 Ga. LEXIS 630
JudgesSupreme Court of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureMurder & MayhemEvidenceDNA EvidenceOther-Acts EvidenceJury InstructionsIneffective Assistance of CounselSufficiency of the EvidenceTales From the Crypt
Case Summary

Sam Green was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, rape, and aggravated assault after two 2007 episodes involving Candy Wright, who was strangled and killed, and Leanna Ziel, whom Green raped and assaulted. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed. It held that eyewitness testimony, DNA evidence, and victim identifications were sufficient, and that the record could be considered even though Green challenged evidentiary rulings and asserted ineffective assistance. The Court upheld joinder because the episodes were strikingly similar in timing, location, victims’ circumstances, and the combination of strangulation and sexual activity, supporting a common motive or modus operandi. It rejected Green’s claim that Ziel’s prostitution conviction was admissible impeachment evidence because prostitution is not a crime involving dishonesty or false statement. The Court found no reversible jury-charge error, no abuse of discretion in denying a continuance, and no deficient or prejudicial performance in counsel’s decisions concerning additional DNA testing, a fence measurement, a reference to Green’s burglary conviction, or several witnesses. The felony-murder verdict had already been vacated by operation of law, and the aggravated-assault count against Wright merged into the malice-murder conviction. All justices concurred.

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