Haygood v. State

338 Ga.App. 189

789 S.E.2d 404

Haygood

v.The State.

A16A0075

Court of Appeals of Georgia.

July 15, 2016

Daniel Horne Petrey, for Appellant.

Robert D. James Jr., Gerald Mason, Atlanta, for Appellee.

Branch, Judge.

On appeal from his conviction for disorderly conduct and misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer, Eric Haygood argues that the evidence does not support the verdict and that the trial court erred when it refused his request for a jury instruction as to a person's right to use proportionate force in resisting an arresting officer's use of excessive force. We find no error and affirm.¹

“On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of innocence.” Reese v. State , 270 Ga.App. 522, 523, 607 S.E.2d 165 (2004) (citation omitted). We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B), 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

So viewed, the record shows that at around 3:00 a.m. on December 17, 2009, Haygood's brother heard Haygood having a “loud conversation” in the bedroom Haygood shared with their elderly father, who suffered from the early stages of dementia. The brother asked Haygood and their father to quiet down so they would not wake up their mother and his teenaged daughter, who were sleeping in the other bedroom. The brother testified that Haygood “got agitated” with him and told him to leave the room and keep out of it. Haygood then went toward the kitchen, followed by their father and their mother, who was now out of bed complaining about the noise. Haygood's father told the brother to call the police.

The brother put on a coat and went outside to call 911. He told a dispatcher that Haygood was “high” and was arguing and waking up the whole house. He told the dispatcher that he told Haygood to quiet down and that Haygood then went in the kitchen and got a knife. He also told the dispatcher that no one could go to sleep because they did not feel safe. Haygood and his father both came outside. The brother called 911 a second time and told the dispatcher that the police needed to hurry up and come out because Haygood was standing out in the street “with his hand up under his coat [as if] he had a gun,” acting as if he was “fixing to sho[o]t [their] daddy out in the street right now.”

Officer M.W. reached the residence first, at 4:00 a.m., followed closely by three other officers. Officer M.W. testified that he encountered Haygood's brother outside, and the brother told him that Haygood was threatening him and their father and that Haygood went into the kitchen and retrieved a knife and, with the knife in hand, began verbally assaulting their father.

After Officer M.W. spoke with Haygood's brother outside, he went into the house with Officer R.L. to speak with Haygood and assess the situation. Officers N.M. and A.R. arrived next. Officer M.W. and Officer R.L. testified that Haygood was in the hallway, and they asked to speak with him outside. Haygood first asked why, and they did not give him a reason but reiterated their request. Haygood then responded vehemently that he was not going anywhere and yelled that he was not going to jail. Officer M.W. testified that this response indicated that verbal commands were not enough and the situation was “about to be physical.” Officer R.L. testified that, because Haygood had been causing a confrontation in his parents' house and they wanted him removed, he had to leave the premises. Officer R.L. testified that, after Haygood said he was not going anywhere, the officers “decided to go hands-on with him.” Officer M.W. testified that he grabbed Haygood, who yanked away and hit Officer R.L. near the shoulder with a closed fist; Officer N.M. also testified that Haygood hit Officer R.L. with a closed fist. Officer R.L. testified somewhat differently that, when they grabbed Haygood, Haygood pulled his arm back and his elbow hit Officer R.L. in the chest.

As the struggle escalated, the officers and Haygood fell through the doorway, into the living room, and onto a coffee table; Haygood ended face-down on the floor with his hands underneath him. Officer N.M. put his knee against Haygood's back, pinning him to the ground. According to Officer M.W. and Officer R.L., they instructed Haygood to show his hands, but he failed to do so and continued to struggle and curse. As Haygood appeared to reach for a metal dumbbell under a nearby sofa, the officers struck Haygood with their batons. The officers then handcuffed Haygood and searched him; he was not armed.

1. Haygood first contends that there is no evidence to support his convictions for disorderly conduct and misdemeanor obstruction. We disagree.

(a) Disorderly Conduct. Under OCGA § 16–11–39 (a) (1), a person commits the offense of disorderly conduct when that person “[a]cts in a violent or tumultuous manner toward another person whereby such person is placed in reasonable fear of the safety of such person's life, limb, or health[.]” The State charged Haygood with “act[ing] in a violent and tumultuous manner towards [his brother and his father,] whereby said [persons] were placed in reasonable fear of said person[s'] life, limb, and health[,] by using threatening language while reaching under his coat as if he had a weapon[.]”

Although there was no first-person testimony regarding whether Haygood's conduct placed his father and brother in fear for their safety, we cannot say that there is no evidence that Haygood's conduct placed them in such fear, given the brother's statement to the 911 dispatcher that the home's residents felt unsafe, the fact that the father told the brother to call the police, the urgency of the brother's request for police assistance, and the other circumstances presented. Notwithstanding his later recantation at trial,² the brother's recorded statements to the 911 dispatcher and his statement to the first responding officer (as testified to at trial by that officer) provided some evidence from which the jury could infer that Haygood acted in a “violent and tumultuous” manner by using threatening language toward them while holding a knife. It was for the jury to resolve any conflicts between the brother's out-of-court statements and his trial testimony. Eschena v. State , 20(3) Ga.App. 621, 622, 417 S.E.2d 214 (1992). It was also for the jury to decide whether the father's and brother's fear was reasonable. See Mayhew v. State , 299 Ga.App. 313, 315–316 (1) (a), 682 S.E.2d 594 (2009) (evidence supported finding that the victim was placed in reasonable fear for her safety where the defendant followed her around a drug store, yelled in her face, pointed a finger at her, and called her several hateful epithets).

For all these reasons, the evidence supported Haygood's conviction for disorderly conduct.

(b) Misdemeanor obstruction . The obstruction statute, OCGA § 16–10–24, provides in relevant part:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, a person who knowingly and willfully obstructs or hinders any law enforcement officer in the lawful discharge of his official duties is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b) Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs, or opposes any law enforcement officer ... in the lawful discharge of his or her official duties by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer ... is guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.

The indictment charged Haygood with felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer in that he “knowingly and willfully resist[ed], obstruct [ed] or oppos[ed] [R. L.], a law enforcement officer with the Atlanta Police Department, in the lawful discharge of said officer's official duties by doing violence to said person, by striking said officer[.]” The jury found Haygood guilty of the lesser included offense of misdemeanor obstruction.

Here, the evidence authorized the jury to find that, when Officer R.L. and the other responding officers first approached Haygood, they were lawfully investigating the domestic disturbance reported by Haygood's brother, that his conduct interfered with the performance of the officers' duties, and that by resisting them as they performed those duties, Haygood obstructed or hindered the officers. This evidence was sufficient to sustain his conviction for misdemeanor obstruction. See Dudley v. State , 264 Ga.App. 845, 846 (1) (b), 592 S.E.2d 489 (2003) (defendant's striking of officer who was placing that defendant under arrest was sufficient to present a jury question on an obstruction charge).

2. Haygood contends that the trial court erred in refusing to give his requested jury instruction regarding a person's right to use proportionate force against an officer's excessive use of force. We disagree.

Where, as here, a party has timely objected to a trial court's decision as to a jury instruction, we review that decision de novo. Johnson v. State , 323 Ga.App. 65, 68, 744 S.E.2d 921 (2013), citing Collier v. State , 288 Ga. 756, 761 (1) (a), 707 S.E.2d 102 (2011) (Nahmias, J., concurring specially) (review of an objected-to jury charge is de novo, whereas “plain error” review applies when no objection is lodged).

As we recently noted, the obstruction statute “was amended in 1986, see Ga. L. 1986, p. 484, such that the offense of misdemeanor obstruction under the new statute no longer contains the element[ ] of violence as does the offense of felony obstruction.” Hoglen v. State , 336 Ga.App. 471, 475 (2), n. 3, 784 S.E.2d 832 (2016) (citation and punctuation omitted). The two elements of felony obstruction are thus (1)...