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Final Copy 290 Ga. 445 S11A1406. SANDERS v. THE STATE.

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice. A jury convicted Richard Sanders of murder in the drive-by shooting of Demetrius Pearson.1 Sanders contends that he did not receive a fair trial because the trial court restricted his cross-examination of an eyewitness and the prosecutor improperly injected his character into evidence. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in limiting impeachment related to a witness's first offender plea or denying the motion for a mistrial, we affirm. 1. The evidence presented at trial shows that 18-year-old Pearson and his The shooting occurred on September 4, 2007, and Sanders was indicted in Fulton County on December 4, 2007. On July 17, 2009, the jury found him guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment on the malice murder charge and a consecutive five-year term on the firearm possession charge. The remaining charges merged or were vacated by operation of law. Sanders filed a motion for new trial on July 24, 2009, which was denied on November 19, 2010. After the trial court granted a motion for out-of-time appeal, Sanders filed a notice of appeal on March 14, 2011. The case was docketed for the September 2011 term and orally argued on September 20, 2011.
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16-year-old friend, Cole Baker, sold fake crack cocaine to a "junkie" for $200 on Labor Day in 2007. Later that afternoon, they were shooting dice for money with several people, including Dontae Armstead and Sanders, whom Pearson knew from the Job Corps. After midnight, Pearson, Baker, and Armstead were walking to their motel near I-20 and Fulton Industrial Boulevard when they heard gunshots and started running. Armstead testified that he heard six to eight gunshots and someone shouting, "Let me get them back." Baker testified that he turned to his right when he heard the gunshots and saw the shooter in the passenger window of a gold Suburban; the person was wearing a lime green shirt and gold sunglasses and had gold teeth. Baker further testified that he was able to see the shooter from the light coming from the streetlights and the gun flashes. He heard someone say, "Give me what's in your pocket, not what you gave me earlier," and ran with his friends until Pearson fell. In a police interview and at trial, Baker identified the shooter as Sanders. When police arrested Sanders, he was wearing a lime green shirt and gold sunglasses. The medical examiner testified that Pearson died from a gunshot wound to his chest. After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury's determination of guilt, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found 2

Sanders guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). 2. Sanders contends that the trial court erred by restricting his

cross-examination of Baker, who was the only witness to identify Sanders as the gunman. Sanders asserts that he was entitled to impeach Baker with his first offender plea in Fulton County to show bias and a motive to testify favorably for the State. The successful completion of probation as a first offender shall not be considered a criminal conviction and cannot be used to impeach a witness on general credibility grounds. See Matthews v. State, 268 Ga. 798, 802 (4) (493 SE2d 136) (1997). Because first offender status is not considered an

adjudication of guilt, a witness also may not be impeached on general credibility grounds with a first offender sentence that is currently being served. See Davis v. State, 269 Ga. 276, 277 (2) (496 SE2d 699) (1998). When the impeachment is to show bias, however, we have previously held that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment permits a defendant in a criminal case to cross-examine witnesses about their first offender status. See Smith v. State, 276 Ga. 263, 264 (2) (577 SE2d 548) (2003). The Sixth Amendment right of confrontation is not 3

absolute, and trial courts retain broad discretion to impose reasonable limits on cross-examination to avoid harassment, prejudice, confusion, repetition, or irrelevant evidence. See Watkins v. State, 276 Ga. 578, 582 (3) (581 SE2d 23) (2003). In this case, the witness pled guilty to burglary in Fulton County as a first offender in October 2008 and later pled guilty to burglary in Clayton County as a first offender in February 2009. Sanders argued that he should be permitted to impeach Baker on both pleas. The trial court rejected the argument that the cross-examination related to the Fulton County plea was intended to show bias and ruled that Sanders could not cross-examine Baker concerning the Fulton County plea for purposes of general impeachment. Based on OCGA

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