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S11A0659. ROGERS v. THE STATE
State: Georgia
Court: Supreme Court
Docket No: S11A0659
Case Date: 11/07/2011
Preview:Final Copy 290 Ga. 18 S11A0659. ROGERS v. THE STATE. HINES, Justice. Randy Rogers appeals his convictions for the felony murder of Gregory Drones, the aggravated assault of Barbara Drones, and burglary.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Construed to support the verdicts, the evidence showed that at 10:30 p.m., Barbara ("Barbara") and Gregory Drones ("Drones") had just returned

The crimes occurred on August 29, 2008. During the July 2009 term, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Rogers for malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, felony murder while in the commission of burglary, aggravated assault of Gregory Drones by shooting him with a shotgun, aggravated assault of Barbara Drones by brandishing a shotgun, aggravated assault of Gregory Drones by brandishing a handgun, aggravated assault of Barbara Drones by brandishing a handgun, two counts of burglary, possession of a firearm during the commission of the felony of burglary, and attempt to commit armed robbery. Rogers was tried before a jury September 21-25 & 28-29, 2009, and found not guilty of the charges of malice murder, aggravated assault of Gregory Drones by brandishing a handgun, aggravated assault of Barbara Drones by brandishing a handgun, possession of a firearm during the commission of the felony of burglary, and attempt to commit armed robbery; he was found guilty of all other charges. On September 29, 2009, the trial court sentenced Rogers to life in prison for felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, a consecutive term of 20 years in prison for aggravated assault of Barbara Drones by brandishing a shotgun, and a consecutive term of 20 years in prison for one of the burglary charges; the remaining crimes were either vacated by operation of law or merged with crimes for which sentences were imposed. Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369, 371-374 (4), (5) (434 SE2d 479) (1993). Rogers moved for a new trial on October 27, 2009, and amended the motion on August 6, 2010; the motion as amended was denied on October 27, 2010. On November 24, 2010, Rogers filed a notice of appeal, his appeal was docketed in this Court for the April 2011 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.

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to their DeKalb County apartment with food from a restaurant. They were in the master bedroom in the back of the apartment, eating, when they heard the sound of breaking glass coming from the front of the apartment. Drones was on the telephone with his daughter; he told her to "hold on" and motioned Barbara toward the bathroom. She heard a shotgun blast and a man holding a handgun came through the bedroom door. Drones, who was unarmed, fought with the man, but collapsed when a shotgun blast fatally struck him in the neck; the man whom Drones had struggled with then "disappeared" from the bedroom. Barbara attempted to call 911, but a second man put a shotgun to her throat and demanded money and drugs. Barbara did not have any drugs; she took sixty dollars from her purse and attempted to give it to the assailant, but he did not take it and left the bedroom, and then the apartment. Shortly thereafter, in a parking lot near the victims' apartment, Rogers approached Janae Washington and asked her to give him a ride; he offered to pay her, had his hand under his shirt, and she agreed to give him a ride. During the drive, Rogers kept his hand under his shirt, and persuaded Washington to telephone Shanta Coleman, Rogers's cousin, and give her directions to enable her to come and meet him. Washington dropped Rogers
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off at a pizza restaurant and noticed blood in the car. Coleman picked him up in her car and drove him to another location. Less than three hours after the crimes, Rogers sought medical attention for a shotgun wound to his wrist at Newton County Medical Center. As a result of Rogers presenting himself for treatment for such a wound, Captain Zara of the Social Circle Police Department went to the hospital and interviewed Rogers, who was at that time considered to be the victim of a crime. Rogers gave Zara a false name and claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators found no physical evidence corroborating his account, nor had police officers who were in the vicinity of where Rogers claimed he was shot heard any gunshots. DNA testing showed that blood found in the Droneses' apartment matched that of Rogers. 1. Rogers contends that the statements he made to Zara while at the hospital after the crimes were wrongly admitted as they were not voluntarily given because he was in pain and had suffered injuries that required him to be flown to another hospital for treatment. The fact that a defendant is in pain or taking pain medication does not, in and of itself, render any statement made involuntary. Nor does the circumstance of a defendant being hospitalized and
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undergoing treatment require such a finding. Sanders v. State, 281 Ga. 36, 38 (2) (635 SE2d 772) (2006) (Citations omitted.). During a Jackson-Denno2 hearing, Zara testified that Rogers was lucid and awake, although at first disoriented, and although "[i]n a lot of pain . . . he was trying to tell where he was when he was shot." He did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs so as to prevent him from being able to speak freely and voluntarily, and, although there was the smell of alcohol in the room, he appeared to know what was going on and where he was. There was no medical testimony regarding what, if any, medication Rogers had taken, or of any likely effects medication might have had upon him, or what effect pain from his injuries might have had on his ability to voluntarily participate in a discussion with Zara. The trial court's finding that the statements Rogers made to Zara were freely and voluntarily made was not clearly erroneous. Sanders, supra. 2. While Rogers was in jail awaiting trial, he placed a telephone call to his girlfriend, Green. Green made a further connection to a three-way call
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Jackson v. Denno, 378 U. S. 368 (84 SC 1774, 12 LE2d 908) (1964). 4

with an attorney's office, but the attorney was unavailable to speak with Rogers; after that conversation ended, Green created another three-way connection with a different attorney's office, with whom Rogers was able to speak. A recording capturing these conversations was introduced into evidence by the State. Content of the recording included Rogers's statements to the attorney that the evidence against him included his blood at the scene of the crimes, and that he did not know the Droneses. Rogers contends that introducing this evidence violated his privilege not to have disclosed communications that he made with attorneys in anticipation of hiring them. See OCGA
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