About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2020)
CM K 6A Tuesday, August 25, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL Ga. Supreme Court upholds Hall man’s 2017 murder verdict BY NICK WATSON nwatson @gainesvilletimes.com The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Gaines ville man’s murder sen tence stemming from a botched drug deal three years ago, denying his claims of ineffective counsel and insufficient evidence to prove his conviction. Marquis Lejon Studivant was sen tenced to life in prison with the pos sibility of parole following a trial in August 2018 in connection to the death of Dennis Gayton, 47. Studivant and his new counsel filed briefs for this appeal earlier this year, and the court unanimously upheld the conviction Monday, Aug. 24. Tadrick Osborne, of Gainesville, and Studivant were drug dealers in the Newtown area of Gaines ville, according to the Supreme Court of Geor gia’s summary included in its opinion. The two men had bags of synthetic mar ijuana around 9:30 p.m. April 4,2017, when Gayton approached them in his truck near Carlton Street, according to the court’s opinion. Gayton, who was with his 15-year-old son, said he wanted to buy drugs for $40, according to the court’s summary. Studivant walked up to the truck and demanded all of Gayton’s money, and when Gayton refused, Studi vant pointed a handgun at the two men in the truck, according to the court. Gayton was shot while wrestling with Studivant for the gun, according to the court. Studivant and Osborne ran from the scene, and Gayton’s car crashed into a tree, police said. Both men were indicted on charges of murder and conspiracy to sell synthetic marijuana. Osborne pleaded guilty to an amended charge of conspiracy to commit mur der and conspiracy to sell a Schedule I substance, and he testified at Studi- vant’s trial. Osborne’s plea led to a 30-year sentence with the first 20 years in prison. Osborne’s latest possible release date is June 20, 2037. The rest of Osborne’s sentence may be served on probation. Studivant argued in his appeal there was no evi dence he and Osborne conspired to sell the drugs and that there was no cor roboration for Osborne’s testimony. According to the court’s opinion, the prosecution must show two or more people with a “mutual understanding to pursue a criminal objective.” The court said the evi dence was sufficient based on Osborne’s testimony and witnesses who saw them together that eve ning, including one who saw them running from the scene. Gayton’s son also iden tified Studivant as the man who shot his father, according to the court’s opinion. Studivant also argued the court should not have allowed evidence seized from a car he was driving before his arrest, namely a rose-colored iPhone with potentially incriminating evidence. The court ruled against the claim without having to consider the search war rant’s legitimacy, because no evidence from the car or the iPhone was admit ted at trial. Studivant’s final claim was that he had ineffec tive counsel because the attorney did not call Studi vant’s girlfriend as an alibi witness. At a previous hearing petitioning for a new trial, the girlfriend said she came home from work between 10-11 p.m. the night of the shooting to find Studivant at the house, according to the court’s opinion. She also said police cars were already there “as a result of the investigation into the murder,” accord ing to the court’s opinion. The attorney’s investiga tor spoke to the witness at least two times about possibly testifying, but the lawyer ultimately decided against calling her to the stand, according to the court. The court ruled the testimony would not have clearly established an alibi for Studivant because of the unclear timeline. a Apartments FOR RENT RPC Partners 2 Bedrm. 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