Translate
Text Highlighter

Bookmark

PDF

Share

Report a problem
AMICUS AI
Citation Codes
Equivalent Citations
citation codes
Docket Number
Attorney(S)
Judges
Are you a practicing lawyer?
Enhance your digital presence and reach by creating a Casemine profile.
Upload pleading to use the new AI search
Cites
Cited by
Citation Codes
Equivalent Citations
citation codes
Docket Number
Attorney(S)
Judges
Smart Summary

Frazier v. The State, A95A2518 — Court of Appeals of Georgia (Dec. 16, 1995)

Factual and Procedural Background

Willie Frazier was convicted of burglary in Glynn Superior Court. He appealed, enumerating three errors. Tonya (Ms.) Davis had been indicted as a co-defendant. Anticipating she would invoke her privilege against self-incrimination, the State granted Ms. Davis use and derivative use immunity regarding any testimony or evidence she might give at appellant's trial and petitioned the trial court to compel her testimony; the trial court granted the petition. Appellant's counsel asserted that Ms. Davis was appellant's common law wife and thus privileged from testifying under OCGA § 24-9-23. At trial, both an affidavit of common law marriage and a gas bill bearing the name "Tonya Frazier" (dated about three months after the burglary) were introduced in evidence. Ms. Davis testified she used the name "Tonya Joan Davis," had various addresses, had referred to appellant as her boyfriend in a statement to police, had given her marital status as "single" upon jail processing, had used the name "Frazier" in some contexts, and testified to facts indicating an ongoing relationship (including statements about a claimed common-law marriage since 1993 and plans for a ceremonial marriage). Ms. Davis' mother and other witnesses offered corroborative and contrary observations about the nature and duration of the relationship. The trial court found that neither appellant nor Ms. Davis proved a common law marriage by a preponderance of the evidence and found instead that the State had proven the nonexistence of such marriage. The trial court compelled Ms. Davis to testify under the grant of immunity. The Court of Appeals reviewed three enumerations and affirmed the conviction.

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the trial court erred in allowing Ms. Davis to testify against appellant, in alleged violation of OCGA § 24-9-23, on the ground that she was appellant's common law wife.
  2. Whether the trial court erred in admitting and publishing to the jury the tape-recorded statement of Ms. Davis' police interrogation given the claimed spousal immunity.
  3. Whether there were other legal errors at trial and whether the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellant's Arguments

  • Appellant asserted that Ms. Davis was his common law wife and therefore the trial court erred in allowing her to testify in violation of OCGA § 24-9-23 (spousal privilege).
  • Appellant contended the tape-recorded statement of Ms. Davis should not have been introduced or published to the jury because she was the common law wife of appellant and could not be compelled to testify or produce evidence against her spouse.
  • Appellant argued the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and raised unspecified additional legal error claims (only the spousal-immunity ground was preserved as to the tape issue on appeal).

State (Appellee) Arguments and Actions

  • The State granted Ms. Davis use and derivative use immunity anticipating invocation of self-incrimination privilege and petitioned the trial court to compel her testimony; the trial court issued the order to compel.
  • The State relied on Ms. Davis' own admissions and statements (including admissions in judicio and prior statements) and other testimonial evidence to argue there was no common law marriage and thus no marital privilege preventing her testimony or the admission of her taped statement.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
Stanley v. State, 240 Ga. 341, 348 (6), 241 S.E.2d 173 "A grant of immunity does not operate to compel one spouse to testify against another." Used to frame the threshold issue: because immunity alone does not override spousal privilege, the court had to determine whether a marital relationship existed.
Overcash v. State, 239 Ga. 499 (3), 238 S.E.2d 50 Marital privilege extends to common law as well as ceremonial marriages. Supported the proposition that if a common law marriage existed, the marital privilege would apply.
Dixon v. State, 217 Ga. App. 267, 268, 456 S.E.2d 758 "The party asserting a common law marriage must prove its existence to a preponderance of the evidence." Established the burden of proof for asserting common law marriage; the court applied this standard and found the burden not met by appellant or Ms. Davis.
Brantley v. State, 262 Ga. 786, 792 (7) (d), 427 S.E.2d 758 Referenced as a comparison: not unconstitutional to place certain burdens (e.g., proving insanity) on a defendant. Used as an analogous citation in discussing burdens of proof (comparative authority).
Johnson v. State, 209 Ga. App. 514, 516 (2), 433 S.E.2d 717 Burden upon defendant to show incompetency by a preponderance of the evidence. Cited as another example supporting allocation of burdens by preponderance in certain contexts.
Sheffield v. State, 241 Ga. 245, 246, 244 S.E.2d 869 When evidence conflicts regarding existence of a marriage, trial judge may either decide the issue or submit it to the jury; judge's decision will not be disturbed if any evidence supports it. Explained permissible procedures for resolving disputed marital-status facts; court relied on this principle when upholding the trial judge's factual finding.
Conyers v. State, 249 Ga. 438, 441, 291 S.E.2d 709 The trial court's decision on existence vel non of a common law marriage should not be disturbed on appeal if there is any evidence to support its finding. Applied as the standard of appellate review for the trial court's factual finding that no common law marriage existed.
Schirato v. State, 260 Ga. 170, 171, 391 S.E.2d 116 Example where substantial evidence supported trial court's finding concerning marital status. Used as supporting example that appellate courts will defer where evidence supports the trial court's conclusion.
Lingerfelt v. State, 255 Ga. 180, 181 (3), 336 S.E.2d 250 Reference concerning an "admission in judicio." Used to identify Ms. Davis' and appellant's courtroom admissions as admissions in judicio supporting the trial court's finding.
Krebsbach v. State, 209 Ga. App. 474, 475, 433 S.E.2d 649 Preservation rule example: certain objections must be made to preserve issues for appeal. Applied to note that, given the limited scope of appellant's enumeration, no other issues regarding admission of the tape were preserved for appellate review.
Spencer v. State, 260 Ga. 640, 646, 398 S.E.2d 179 Trial court enjoys wide discretion in determining admissibility of evidence. Used to support the trial court's evidentiary rulings and the appellate court's decision not to disturb those rulings.
Boatright v. State, 192 Ga. App. 112, 116, 385 S.E.2d 298 If evidence is admissible under any legitimate theory, it should be admitted even though it would not qualify under other theories. Supported admission of evidence that was admissible under at least one legitimate theory.
Grant v. State, 195 Ga. App. 463, 393 S.E.2d 737 On appeal, evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict; appellate court determines sufficiency, not weight or credibility. Applied in reviewing sufficiency of the evidence for the conviction.
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) Standard that evidence viewed in light most favorable to the prosecution must permit a rational trier of fact to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Applied to conclude that the record contained ample evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The court addressed appellant's three enumerations in sequence.

Division 1 — Marital Privilege/Common Law Marriage: The court began from the premise that a grant of immunity by the State does not, by itself, compel one spouse to testify against the other (citing Stanley v. State), and observed that marital privilege applies to both ceremonial and common law marriages (citing Overcash v. State). Accordingly, the threshold question was whether Ms. Davis was appellant's common law spouse. The court applied the established rule that the party asserting a common law marriage must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence (citing Dixon v. State). The court noted two permissible procedures when marital status evidence is in conflict: the trial judge may decide the issue or submit it to the jury (citing Sheffield v. State), and that the trial court's factual finding should not be disturbed on appeal if any evidence supports it (citing Conyers v. State and others).

On the record, the trial court found that neither appellant nor Ms. Davis had met the preponderance burden to establish a common law marriage and found, based on Ms. Davis' admissions and other evidence, that no common law marriage existed. The appellate court emphasized that there was some evidence supporting that finding and declined to disturb it. The court also relied on admissions made in open court by Ms. Davis and by appellant (characterized as admissions in judicio, citing Lingerfelt v. State) indicating they were boyfriend/girlfriend rather than established spouses.

Division 2 — Admissibility of the Tape-Recorded Statement: The court treated the tape admission claim narrowly because appellant limited his challenge on appeal to the spousal-immunity ground; other potential objections were not preserved (citing Krebsbach v. State). Because the court concluded that the marital privilege did not apply (Division 1), the contention that the tape was inadmissible on spousal-immunity grounds failed.

Division 3 — Other Enumerations and Weight of the Evidence: The court found no legal error in the enumerations and rejected the contention that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. The court summarized the prosecution evidence: Ms. Davis' testimony (including her taped statement) that implicated appellant in the burglary and described her assistance in handling stolen property; witness Sweeting's testimony about items given to her by appellant that matched items taken from the burglarized store; eyewitness Culver's testimony observing appellant enter and leave the store carrying items and interacting with "Tonya"; Culver's testimony also explained his recovery of items left on the sidewalk and his criminal record was noted. The court observed that trial courts have wide discretion over admissibility (citing Spencer v. State) and that evidence admissible under any legitimate theory should be admitted (citing Boatright v. State).

For sufficiency review, the court applied the standard that appellate review views the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and does not reweigh credibility (citing Grant v. State), and the Jackson standard for sufficiency (Jackson v. Virginia). The court concluded the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Holding and Implications

Judgment affirmed.

Holding: The Court of Appeals affirmed appellant's burglary conviction, rejecting appellant's claims that the trial court erred by (1) permitting Ms. Davis to testify despite an asserted common law marital privilege, (2) admitting her tape-recorded statement on the ground of spousal immunity, and (3) other enumerated errors and weight-of-evidence challenges.

Implications: The direct effect is that appellant's conviction is upheld. The appellate court applied established standards concerning burden of proof for asserting a common law marriage, deference to trial-court factual findings when supported by any evidence, rules on admissibility and preservation of objections, and the Jackson sufficiency standard. The opinion does not announce or rely upon any new legal doctrine; it applies existing precedent to affirm the trial court's rulings.


Opinion by Birdsong, Presiding Judge. Johnson and Smith, JJ., concur. Decided November 16, 1995; Reconsideration denied January 4, 1996; cert. applied for.

FRAZIER v. THE STATE

BIRDSONG, Presiding Judge.

Willie Frazier appeals his conviction of burglary; he enumerates three errors. Held:

1. Appellant asserts that as Ms. Davis is his common law wife, the trial court erred in allowing her to testify in violation of OCGA § 24-9-23. We disagree.

Ms. Davis was indicted as a co-defendant with appellant. In anticipation that she would invoke her privilege against self-incrimination, the State granted her use and derivative use immunity with regard to any testimony or evidence she may give at appellant's trial, and petitioned for an order from the trial court compelling her to testify. The trial court granted the State's petition and issued the order. However, when Ms. Davis was called as a State's witness, appellant's counsel stated in his place that he anticipated the witness would invoke the marital privilege as she had been living with appellant for more than two years, had requested visiting privileges with appellant which were granted after she and appellant executed an affidavit of common law marriage, and had a gas bill which listed her name as "Tonya Frazier." At trial, both the affidavit and the gas bill were introduced in evidence; the gas bill is dated approximately three months after the burglary. Ms. Davis subsequently testified that her name was "Tonya Joan Davis"; she had resided on Gordon Street with appellant for three months prior to her arrest; prior to moving to Gordon Street she had lived with her mother on Palamore Drive; she "now" has been living longer than three months with appellant at her mother's house and elsewhere; at the time of her arrest, she gave police the Palamore Drive address, because she did not have a phone at appellant's address; just after her arrest she gave a statement to a police detective in which she stated that appellant was her boyfriend; upon being processed in the Glynn County Detention Center she gave her marital status as "single" but she has used the last name of "Frazier"; she does not remember signing any form of affidavit; in September she and appellant signed an affidavit to get visitation rights; she was 22 years old when she moved in with appellant; she has never been married before and has not lived with anyone else; she used the name "Frazier" in front of a lot of people and on her bills; one of her bills, she believes it was the gas bill, was listed in the name "Tonya Frazier"; she is the common law wife of appellant and has been so since 1993; she had sexual relations with appellant during the time she claimed to be his wife; in 1993, Ms. Davis had a miscarriage and lost a child by appellant; her mother considered her as married to appellant as did her friends; she had intended to be appellant's wife and they subsequently had taken "the blood test and everything"; a ceremonial marriage was not performed, however, as Ms. Davis was incarcerated on a probation violation the day before the wedding was scheduled; although the ceremony was scheduled to be held after the date when both she and appellant were arrested, it was not being done for the purposes of claiming a marital privilege; and, it was appellant who told her she could claim a marital privilege but did not ask her to do so. Ms. Davis' mother testified and corroborated inter alia that portion of her daughter's testimony pertaining to appellant's residing with Ms. Davis in the mother's house and sleeping with Ms. Davis. She considered her daughter and appellant as being married; appellant and Ms. Davis told her they were married. The mother's alleged common law husband testified that he too considered appellant and Ms. Davis as being married to each other. Tonya cooked for appellant and they went shopping together; however, during the year and a half that he lived with Ms. Davis' mother, he had never heard Ms. Davis refer to herself as "Tonya Frazier." But Ms. Davis may have done so and his attention may have been elsewhere at the time. At a family reunion appellant and Ms. Davis attended, he never heard them say they were man and wife. A holding cell mate of Tonya and longtime friend of the family testified that she believed appellant and Ms. Davis married as they were living together and Tonya always called appellant her husband.

The trial court found that neither appellant nor Ms. Davis had carried the burden of proving a common law marriage by the preponderance of the evidence; and, on the contrary, that the State has proven, based on admissions and statements of Ms. Davis herself, by a preponderance of the evidence and to the trial court "as a matter of fact, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that there was not a common law marriage existing and existing now." Accordingly, the trial court denied the witness' assertion of the marital privilege and ordered her to testify under the grant of immunity given by the State.

As a "grant of immunity does not operate to compel one spouse to testify against another" (Stanley v. State, 240 Ga. 341, 348 (6) ( 241 S.E.2d 173)) and as a marital privilege extends to common law as well as to ceremonial marriages (see Overcash v. State, 239 Ga. 499 (3) ( 238 S.E.2d 50)), we must determine whether the trial court erred in concluding that Tonya Davis was not the common law spouse of appellant. At trial, "[t]he party asserting a common law marriage must prove its existence to a preponderance of the evidence." Dixon v. State, 217 Ga. App. 267, 268 (1) ( 456 S.E.2d 758); cf., Brantley v. State, 262 Ga. 786, 792 (7) (d) ( 427 S.E.2d 758) (not unconstitutional to place burden of proving insanity or mental illness on defendant); Johnson v. State, 209 Ga. App. 514, 516 (2) ( 433 S.E.2d 717) (burden upon defendant to show incompetency by a preponderance of the evidence). "If the evidence is in conflict as to the existence of a marriage, two procedures have been used to determine whether a marriage exists. The trial judge may hear evidence to determine whether a marriage exists, and his decision will not be disturbed on appeal if there is any evidence to support his finding. [Cit.] The second procedure is for the trial court to submit to the jury with appropriate instructions the question of whether or not a marriage exists. [Cit.]" Sheffield v. State, 241 Ga. 245, 246 (1) ( 244 S.E.2d 869). "The decision of the trial court as to the fact question of the existence vel non of a common law marriage, should not be disturbed on appeal if there is any evidence to support its finding." Conyers v. State, 249 Ga. 438, 441 (3) ( 291 S.E.2d 709); see e.g., Schirato v. State, 260 Ga. 170, 171 (2) ( 391 S.E.2d 116) where there was not only some but substantial evidence to support the trial court's finding. Although the evidence is in conflict, there exists some evidence to support the trial court's finding of the nonexistence of a common law marriage, and we will not disturb that finding on appeal. Conyers, supra; Sheffield, supra. Additionally, the record reveals that during her testimony before the jury, Ms. Davis made an admission in judicio (see generally Lingerfelt v. State, 255 Ga. 180, 181 (3) ( 336 S.E.2d 250)) of the fact that appellant "still is" her boyfriend; and, during his testimony in open court, appellant also made an admission in judicio ( Lingerfelt, supra) that, when the detective visited him after the burglary, at that time he was Ms. Davis' boyfriend and she was his girlfriend. Appellant's first enumeration is without merit.

2. Appellant also enumerates that the trial court erred in allowing the introduction and publication to the jury of the tape-recorded statement of Ms. Davis' interrogation by a police detective, as she is the common law wife of appellant and, as such, should not have been compelled to testify against her spouse or to produce other evidence in violation of OCGA § 24-9-23. In view of the limited scope of the enumeration, no other issue regarding the admission of the tape has been preserved for appellate review. See e.g., Krebsbach v. State, 209 Ga. App. 474, 475 (2) ( 433 S.E.2d 649). This enumeration, which alleges as the sole ground for statement inadmissibility a claim of spousal immunity, is without merit for the reasons discussed in Division 1 above.

3. We find no error of law as enumerated by appellant. See Divisions 1 and 2 above. Appellant's contention that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence also is without merit. Tonya Davis testified, without objection by the defense except for the meritless prior claim of spousal immunity, regarding the contents of her taped, unsworn recorded statement to a police detective. She admitted in open court that in her prior statement she had told the detective that appellant kicked open the door of the averred building, entered and stole items therefrom, she helped appellant pick up stolen property he dropped while running out of the building and helped him carry that property to their residence. Ms. Sweeting testified that appellant had given her certain purses and two short pants sets as a gift; these items had been taken from the burglarized store. Additionally, Mr. Culver testified that he personally observed appellant enter the burglarized store between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on the averred dare and exit the store carrying "garments and stuff." The witness also observed "Tonya" standing on the sidewalk of the next door building; appellant gave some of the items to "Tonya." The eyewitness picked up certain items which appellant left on the sidewalk; the eye witness has a prior criminal record, including inter alia conviction of sale of marijuana, burglary and forgery in the first degree, numerous other forgery counts, criminal trespass, and theft by receiving. A trial court enjoys a wide discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence. Spencer v. State, 260 Ga. 640, 646 (8) ( 398 S.E.2d 179). If, as in this case, evidence is duly admissible under any legitimate theory, it should be admitted even though it would not qualify for admission under one or more other evidentiary theories. Boatright v. State, 192 Ga. App. 112, 116 (6) ( 385 S.E.2d 298).

On appeal the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict, and appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, an appellate court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility. Grant v. State, 195 Ga. App. 463 (1) ( 393 S.E.2d 737). Review of the transcript reveals ample evidence from which any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty of the offense of which he was found guilty. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560).

Judgment affirmed. Johnson and Smith, JJ., concur.

DECIDED NOVEMBER 16, 1995 — RECONSIDERATION DENIED JANUARY 4, 1996 — CERT. APPLIED FOR.
Use AI to get other relevant cases.

Comments

FRAZIER v. STATE
(Nov 16, 1995)