Stryker v. State

900 S.E.2d 579

STRYKER

v.The STATE.

S24A0125

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: April 16, 2024

Superior Court, Dawson County, Kathlene F. Gosselin, Judge

Kyle A. Denslow, Frye Law Group, 170 Anderson St. SE, Marietta, Georgia 30060, for Appellant.

Conley Julian Greer, A.D.A., Dawson County District Attorney’s Office, 25 Justice Way, Suite 3321, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534, Lee Darragh, District Attorney, Northeastern Circuit District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 1690, Gainesville, Georgia 30503, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Meghan Hobbs Hill, Assistant Attorney General, Clint Christopher Malcolm, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, for Appellee.

Colvin, Justice.

Appellant Austin Stryker appeals his convictions for malice murder and other crimes related to the shooting and stabbing death of Hannah Bender.¹ On appeal, Appellant con- tends that the trial court violated his constitutional right to present a complete defense when it prevented defense counsel from making a closing argument that co-defendants Issac Huff and Dylan Reid would have faced minimum sentences of life in prison had they not pled guilty. Appellant also contends that the prosecutor personally attacked defense counsel in closing argument and that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling his objection to those personal attacks. Finally, Appellant argues that the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on "grave suspicion" after, as he contends, the prosecutor misconstrued the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard in closing arguments. Although we conclude that Appellant’s claims fail, we have identified merger errors in Appellant’s sentencing that require correction. Accordingly, we affirm in part and vacate in part the judgment below.

1. The evidence presented at trial showed the following. Appellant was a member of a small gang called "THIS," alongside Jerry Harper, Jeremiah Wazar, Dylan Reid, Issac Huff, and Damien Edge. Bailey Williams was also associated with "THIS," although she was not an official member, and Bender was Williams’s friend. Huff and Reid testified that the gang sold drugs and committed robberies, including armed robberies of two stores in the months leading up to Bender's death. Huff and Williams admitted that they helped Appellant commit an armed robbery of a store in Dahlonega. Huff also testified that Appellant told him about an armed robbery Appellant and Edge committed in Dawsonville.

Reid testified that, prior to the date of Bender’s death, Appellant mentioned that he suspected Bender was "snitch[ing]" about the armed robberies committed by the gang and that he wanted to "[g]et rid of her." Then, in the early hours of September 5, 2019, while Appellant, Huff, and Reid were hanging out in Huff’s basement drinking "[a] little alcohol" and using "[a] little drugs," their conversation turned again to Bender. Reid testified that Appellant made another statement about getting rid of Bender. And Huff testified that the men talked about how they were going to "prove to everybody" that they were "not a joke" by "roughing [Bender] up a little bit or something like that."

Reid testified that Appellant then asked Reid to send a message to Williams telling her that Appellant and Huff were on their way to her house. Reid, who stayed behind, testified that, on the way out of Huff's residence, Appellant decided to take a pistol Appellant had gotten from a man named Robert Youngblood, saying, "You never know. I might need it." Huff testified that he then drove Appellant in a Mazda truck to a gas station and then to Williams’s home. Huff said that he waited in the truck while Appellant talked to Williams inside her home. Williams said that, during this visit, Appellant asked her to message Bender and told Williams he "had a problem he needed to deal with."

Huff drove Appellant to Bender’s house, and Appellant went inside. According to Huff, Appellant planned to convince Bender to come with them by telling her that they were taking her on a trip to Florida. And when Bender came out to the truck with Appellant, she was carrying a duffle bag.

Appellant and Bender sat across from each other in the "two fold-out seats" behind the driver and passenger seats of the truck. According to Huff, after they stopped at a gas station to purchase gas and cigarettes, they drove to Appellant’s house because, as Huff later learned, Appellant suspected that the gas station cameras had recorded the clothes he had been wearing and he wanted to change clothes. Huff testified that, while Appellant was inside changing, Bender talked about how excited she was to visit Florida.

Appellant returned to the truck, and they started driving to Huff's residence. Huff testified that a few minutes into the drive, Appellant told Huff to "slow down," so Huff "dropped gears in the truck." "[S]hortly after that," Huff testified, he "heard a shot go off in the back of the truck," and then Appellant "climb[ed] into the front seat" and "told [Huff] to drive faster, to go now, get out of there."

Huff testified that he heard "a gurgling-type noise" coming from Bender after the shooting, and when they arrived at Huff's house, Huff saw that Bender was slumped over in the back seat in a pool of blood. Huff then went into the house, woke up Reid, and told Reid to go outside.

Reid testified that he walked outside, finding Appellant shirtless and wiping Reid’s knife on the ground. Appellant instructed Reid to grab a trash bag and a blanket from inside the house, which he did. Appellant then instructed Reid to help him get Bender’s body out of the truck. Reid testified that he and Appellant put a trash bag over Bender’s head, pulled her out of the truck, wrapped her in a blanket, and threw her body in a nearby firepit. According to Huff, Appellant told him not to let anyone walk near the firepit, and Reid recalled Appellant telling Huff "to keep an eye on her [be]cause she may still be alive." Appellant and Reid then drove the Mazda to Appellant’s house, where they retrieved Appellant’s Ford Explorer.

Huff testified that when Appellant and Reid returned to Huff's house, Appellant told Huff that they were going to get rid of all the evidence. Reid said that he and Appellant then drove the Ford to Williams’s house, where, according to Williams, Appellant told her she needed to go with them. Williams testified that they drove the Ford to Appellant’s house, where Appellant got into the Mazda with Reid, and that Appellant asked Williams to follow them in the Ford and swerve if she saw any cops to distract them.

Shortly after leaving Appellant’s house, Appellant stopped the car and told Reid to switch places with Williams. Williams testified that, when she got into the truck, she smelled blood and saw blood "everywhere." After driving a while, they stopped at the end of a gravel road, and Appellant instructed Reid to return the Ford to Appellant’s wife before she went to work, which he did.

Williams testified that she and Appellant then drove to a campground, where Appellant disposed of Bender’s belongings. According to Williams, Appellant also unbolted the two front seats of the truck at the campground but did not remove them because a park ranger was nearby. Later, they drove to Youngblood’s property, where Harper’s camper was located. According to Williams, Appellant talked about Bender during the drive, saying that he "shot her" and that, "when she didn’t die right away[,] … he stabbed her." Williams further testified that Appellant said, "I had to do it, didn’t I? A rat is a rat. I had to do it."

Youngblood testified that Appellant asked for help, and Youngblood agreed to drive Appellant. Appellant then directed Youngblood to a campground, where, according to Youngblood, Appellant got out to look for something. Youngblood testified that, at some point, Appellant talked to him about Bender, saying that he "thought that she was undercover" and had "stabbed her."

Appellant returned to Huff's house later to retrieve the body from the firepit. With Reid’s help, Appellant moved Bender’s body into a toolbox from the bed of the Mazda truck. Appellant’s wife then drove the Ford to Huff's house, and they loaded the toolbox containing Bender’s body into the vehicle. Appellant, Appellant’s wife, Appellant’s baby, and Reid all drove in the Ford to Youngblood’s property. They left the toolbox containing Bender’s body by a camper, which the evidence showed belonged to Harper, and then stripped out parts of the Mazda. Reid said that they bagged up the Mazda parts and then drove them to another location, where they threw the parts off the side of a hill.

Later, Harper drove the Mazda to a local farmer’s property with Appellant following him in the Ford. The farmer testified that Harper offered him the Mazda, and that he agreed to take it. According to the farmer, Harper and Appellant then went down to a creek on the property. The farmer believed that they were going down to the creek "to get some sand," but Reid testified that Appellant buried Bender’s body there.

Appellant asked Huff and Reid to put dirt on Bender’s body every few days to prevent it from being discovered. Appellant also separately asked Huff, Reid, and Williams to drive him out of the state, but they declined, and Harper ultimately drove Appellant to West Virginia.²

Youngblood testified that he kept a loaded pistol on top of his refrigerator, that Appellant had taken the gun without Youngblood’s knowledge or permission, and that the gun was unloaded when Appellant returned it. After hearing that Bender was missing and discovering bloodstained clothing in his laundry room, Youngblood called the police and turned over the clothing and his gun. Prompted by a news report, the farmer also contacted the police, and officers took possession of the Mazda truck.

Investigators discovered Bender’s body buried...