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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.
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