Shellman v. The State

Facts

On January 13, 2016, Shanelle‘s two minor children heard her scream “get off of me,” followed by “a loud bump” from a bedroom in their home. The children went to the bedroom. They found Shanelle and D lying on the floor. Officers found Shanelle and D on the bedroom floor, both having suffered gunshot wounds to the head, and D had a gun in his right hand. Shanelle was dead, but D survived. At the hospital, an investigator recovered three live .380-caliber rounds from D's pants pocket. Once a search warrant was issued, investigators and crime scene technicians recovered the gun that had been in D's hand, three live rounds from that gun, a bullet, and two spent shell casings from the crime scene. The gun found in D's hand worked properly and it fired the bullet and shell casings found at the crime scene as well as the bullet recovered from Shanelle's head. The gun used .380-caliber ammunition-the same type of ammunition that was found in D's pants pocket. Investigators recovered a journal from a closet in the bedroom. P presented evidence that Shanelle had written in this journal in the days before the murder about her marital troubles with D and her belief that D no longer loved her. The journal also contained allegations of both Shanelle and D's infidelity and recorded that D and Shanelle had frequent arguments, D was “mean” to Shanelle, and he was “violent for nothing.” Many witnesses testified that D was controlling and abusive toward Shanelle. Once, D put a gun to Shanelle's head and threatened to kill her, telling her that if she ever left, he would find her, kill her, and bury her body where it could not be found. On several occasions, Shanelle told her best friend that she had “bruises … all on her body,” because she and D got into frequent arguments and D would punch her, pull her hair, and spit on her. Shanelle told her mother that she planned to leave D. A week before the murder, Shanelle told her mother that she and D had “problems,” that they “had been fighting,” and that Shellman had “hit her,” “beat her and had pulled her hair out.” Shanelle's neighbor testified that about a month before the murder, Shanelle went to the neighbor's house and told her “he's trying to kill me, help me, he's trying to kill me.” Shanelle used the neighbor's phone to call 911 and report that Shellman assaulted her and that she feared for her life. Shanelle told the responding officer that D became upset because he saw a picture of her with another man from several years prior. D testified that a police officer came to the house and shot him in the face. An officer then stepped on his face as the officer went inside his house.D testified that he lost consciousness and that he had no knowledge of anything that happened between that moment and when he awoke, months later. D denied killing his wife, attempting to commit suicide, or owning a gun at the time of his wife's death. D was convicted of malice murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon during a crime in connection with the shooting death of his wife, Shanelle. D appealed. D contends that (1) the evidence was insufficient and (2) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting into evidence under OCGA § 24-8-807 (Rule 807) a journal found in a closet at the crime scene.

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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