443 S.E.2d 486
S94A0408.Supreme Court of Georgia.
DECIDED MAY 31, 1994.
HUNSTEIN, Justice.
Cesar Douglas Mejia, a/k/a Margarito Cano, was found guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault of Samuel Guevara. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on the felony murder charge. The trial court denied his motion for new trial, and he appeals.[1]
1. The jury was authorized to find that appellant, while he and his co-indictee were visiting friends, stated that he was going to kill Guevara and that he had in his possession a .38 pistol and bullets, several of which he fired from the pistol into the ground at the residence. Shortly thereafter, while at the home of another friend, appellant and his co-indictee met Guevara and began arguing with him. Guevara’s body was found the following day in a secluded area. Expert testimony was adduced that Guevara died from multiple gunshot wounds and that bullets recovered from his body were fired by the same gun appellant had used when he fired the shots into the ground. A shoe print that matched shoes worn by the co-indictee was found six feet from the victim’s body.
This evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307
(99 S.C. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) (1979).
2. A trial court’s findings as to factual determinations and credibility relating to the admissibility of a confession will be upheld on appeal unless they are found to be clearly erroneous Peebles v. State, 260 Ga. 165 (4) (391 S.E.2d 639) (1990). While the evidence was in conflict, evidence as to appellant’s command of the English language, presented in the testimony of the agent who conducted the first interview with appellant after his arrest and the testimony of the interpreter used during the third interview with appellant, supports the trial court’s finding that on each of the three occasions that appellant was advised of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (86 S.C. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694) (1966), he understood those rights, voluntarily waived them, and gave his statements freely and voluntarily without any hope of benefit or fear of injury. We find no error in the trial court’s denial of the appellant’s motion to suppress his statements.
3. We have reviewed appellant’s claims involving the denial of a change of venue, the refusal to strike a potential juror for cause, the
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removal of a juror, the State’s alleged violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (106 S.C. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69) (1986), the failure to grant a motion to suppress on the bases that appellant’s arrest was illegal and/or pretextual, and the exclusion of proffered evidence. We find these claims of error to be without merit.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
DECIDED MAY 31, 1994.
Murder. Hall Superior Court. Before Judge Girardeau.
H. Bradford Morris, Jr., for appellant.
Lydia Sartain, District Attorney, Lee Darragh, Assistant District Attorney, Michael J. Bowers, Attorney General, Susan V. Boleyn, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Marla-Deen Brooks, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.