Ray Cromartie

Case overview

Ray Jefferson Cromartie was convicted in Thomas County Superior Court of malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The jury recommended a death sentence for the murder, and the trial court sentenced Cromartie to death.

Timeline

• April 7, 1994 — Cromartie borrowed a .25 caliber pistol from his cousin Gary Young.
• April 7, 1994 — At about 10:15 p.m., Cromartie entered the Madison Street Deli in Thomasville and shot the clerk, Dan Wilson, in the face.
• April 10, 1994 — In the early morning hours, Cromartie and Corey Clark asked Thaddeus Lucas to drive them to the Junior Food Store so they could steal beer; Cromartie directed Lucas to bypass the closest open store and park nearby.
• April 10, 1994 — Cromartie and Clark entered the Junior Food Store and shot clerk Richard Slysz twice in the head; Slysz died shortly thereafter.
• October 20, 1994 — Cromartie was indicted in Thomas County for malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
• October 31, 1994 — The State filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
• September 26, 1997 — The jury convicted Cromartie of all counts.
• October 1, 1997 — The trial court sentenced Cromartie to death.
• October 27, 1997 — Cromartie’s motion for new trial was filed.
• April 7, 1998 — The motion for new trial was denied.
• May 7, 1998 — Cromartie filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
• May 28, 1998 — The case was docketed.
• September 16, 1998 — The case was orally argued.
• March 8, 1999 — The Supreme Court of Georgia decided the case.
• April 2, 1999 — Reconsideration was denied.
• March 5, 2008 — A habeas corpus hearing was held at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at Jackson; Cromartie remained on death row.

Background

Ray Jefferson Cromartie was held as a Georgia Death Row inmate after being convicted of murder more than a decade earlier and continuing the process to prolong his life. Two local lawmen and an assistant district attorney testified at a habeas corpus hearing at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at Jackson, the site of Georgia’s Death Row.

Cromartie was among 102 inmates on Death Row, comprising 101 men and one woman. Kelly Gissendaner was identified as the woman, convicted of murder in Gwinnett County in November 1998. Wilburn Dobbs was identified as having been on Death Row longer than any other current inmate; Dobbs was convicted of murder in Walker County in May 1974.

David Hutchings, Thomas County clerk of court, described the purpose of a habeas corpus hearing as determining whether a person was being held lawfully, whether before conviction or after conviction. Russ Willard, public information officer for Thurbert Baker, explained that judges were appointed to hear inmates’ documents filed in Butts County Superior Court and that it took weeks to months before a decision was known.

The offence

Cromartie was convicted in October 1997 of murdering a convenience store clerk. The Supreme Court of Georgia decision described two shootings occurring on April 7 and April 10, 1994, involving convenience-type stores.

At about 10:15 p.m. on April 7, 1994, Cromartie entered the Madison Street Deli in Thomasville and shot the clerk, Dan Wilson, in the face. Cromartie left after unsuccessfully trying to open the cash register. Wilson survived despite a severed carotid artery.

In the early morning hours of April 10, 1994, Cromartie and Corey Clark asked Thaddeus Lucas to drive them to the Junior Food Store so they could steal beer. Cromartie directed Lucas to bypass the closest open store and drive to the Junior Food Store, told Lucas to park on a nearby street and wait, and then entered the store with Clark. Cromartie shot clerk Richard Slysz twice in the head. The first shot entered below Slysz’s right eye and would not have caused Slysz to immediately lose consciousness before he was hit by the second shot directed at Slysz’s left temple. Although Slysz died shortly thereafter, neither wound caused an immediate death. Cromartie and Clark tried to open the cash register but were unsuccessful; Cromartie grabbed two 12-packs of Budweiser beer and the men fled.

A convenience store clerk across the street heard the shots and observed two men fitting the general description of Cromartie and Clark run from the store, with Cromartie carrying the beer. While the men were fleeing, one of the 12-packs broke open and spilled beer cans onto the ground. A passing motorist saw the two men run from the store and appear to drop something.

The Supreme Court of Georgia identified statutory aggravating circumstances found by the jury: (1) the murder was committed while the defendant was engaged in the commission of an armed robbery; (2) the murder was committed for the purpose of receiving money or any other thing of monetary value; and (3) the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved depravity of mind and an aggravated battery to the victim before death. OCGA 17-10-30 (b) (2), (4), (7).

Investigation

Cromartie entered the Madison Street Deli at about 10:15 p.m. on April 7, 1994, and shot Dan Wilson. A store video camera tape was described as too indistinct to conclusively identify Cromartie, but it captured a man fitting Cromartie’s general description enter the store and walk behind the counter toward the area where the clerk was washing pans. There was the sound of a shot and the man left after trying to open the cash register.

After the April 10 shooting, plaster casts of shoe prints in a muddy field next to the spilled cans of beer were described as similar to the shoes Cromartie was wearing when he was arrested three days later. Cromartie’s left thumb print was found on a torn piece of Budweiser 12-pack carton near the shoe prints.

The police recovered the .25 caliber pistol Cromartie had borrowed from Gary Young. A firearms expert determined that the gun fired the bullets that wounded Wilson and killed Slysz.

Arrest

Cromartie was arrested three days later wearing shoes later described as matching plaster casts of shoe prints in a muddy field near spilled cans of Budweiser beer.

The Supreme Court of Georgia stated that there was no evidence Cromartie was arrested inside his home. After his arrest, the warrantless seizure of the shoes Cromartie was wearing, which were later found to be consistent with the shoe prints at the Junior Food Store, was described as legal as a search incident to arrest.

Trial

Charges and verdicts

Cromartie was convicted of malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The jury recommended a death sentence for the murder. The Supreme Court of Georgia stated that the evidence authorized the jury to find the statutory aggravating circumstances supporting the death sentence and found the evidence sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Cromartie guilty of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt.

Evidence and witnesses

The Supreme Court of Georgia decision described Cromartie’s borrowing of a .25 caliber pistol from his cousin Gary Young on April 7, 1994, and stated that Corey Clark and Thaddeus Lucas were involved in the April 10 Junior Food Store shooting. Corey Clark and Thaddeus Lucas were later described as accomplices who testified for the State at Cromartie’s trial.

Cromartie asked Gary Young and Carnell Cooksey if they saw the news after the April 7 shooting. He told Young that he shot the clerk at the Madison Street Deli while he was in the back washing dishes. Cromartie also asked Cooksey if he was "down with the 187," which Cooksey testified meant robbery. Cromartie stated that there was a Junior Food Store with "one clerk in the store and they didn't have no camera."

Video evidence and photographs

The trial court admitted, after a proper foundation, the 20-minute portion of the Madison Street Deli surveillance video depicting the assailant entering the store, the sound of the shot, the assailant’s attempt to open the cash register, and the arrival of law enforcement. The Supreme Court of Georgia stated there was no error in admitting crime scene photographs or pre-autopsy photographs of the murder victim.

During trial, Cromartie argued that the entire two-hour videotape was relevant because it showed a customer who might resemble his cousin, Gary Young, enter the store prior to the shooting and showed unidentified people entering and leaving the store who could have been "scouting" for the shooter. The trial court allowed Cromartie to play for the jury the portion of the videotape showing a customer who may look like Gary Young and stated it would admit other portions if Cromartie identified specific portions believed to be relevant. Cromartie refused to identify other portions and insisted that the entire videotape be shown.

Motions during trial and rulings

Cromartie complained that the trial court should have granted his motion for a change of venue. The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the trial court did not err by denying the motion. The decision stated that only 28 of 105 prospective jurors stated that they had read any articles about the case and that most indicated they had not formed a fixed opinion as to Cromartie’s guilt or any other issue. Only one prospective juror was excused for cause due to having a fixed opinion from pretrial publicity.

The Supreme Court of Georgia held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Cromartie’s motion to sever the offenses at the Madison Street Deli from the offenses at the Junior Food Store. It described the shootings as similar, occurring only three days apart, involving the same gun, and being part of a single scheme or plan to rob convenience-type stores.

The Supreme Court of Georgia also addressed Cromartie’s complaints about jury selection, including:

• excusing a prospective juror Smith for cause due to inability to consider a death sentence;
• the scope of voir dire on the issue of the death penalty;
• the denial of motions to strike several prospective jurors for cause based on views about capital punishment, exposure to pretrial publicity, and alleged biases;
• the trial court’s allowance of questioning on racial prejudice and fairness and impartiality during voir dire;
• rulings on prospective jurors’ religious opposition to the death penalty and the standard for death qualification;
• denial of motions to exclude testimony of Gary Young, Corey Clark, and Carnell Cooksey;
• denial of a motion to suppress plaster cast shoe print evidence; and
• denial of challenges to various jury instructions in the guilt-innocence and sentencing phases.

Juror questions and deliberation events

During guilt-innocence phase deliberations, the jury separately requested to view portions of the Madison Street Deli videotape depicting the circumstances of the shooting and a slow motion videotape of the same portion. Both videotapes had been admitted into evidence. The trial court permitted the jury to view the videotapes again and reminded the jury that it must consider all evidence presented at trial.

During sentencing phase deliberations, the jury sent a note asking, "As jurors, we would like to know what happens if we do not come up with a unanimous vote?" The Supreme Court of Georgia described that the jury had been deliberating less than three hours and that there was no indication the jury was deadlocked. The trial court responded that it could not answer the question and told the jury to continue deliberations to try to reach a unanimous verdict.

Sentencing

After merging the aggravated assault and one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime into the other convictions, the trial court sentenced Cromartie to death for the murder, life imprisonment for armed robbery, 20 years for aggravated battery, and five years for each remaining count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, with all sentences to be served consecutively. The Supreme Court of Georgia stated that the death sentence was not imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor and that it was not disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.

The Supreme Court of Georgia noted that similar cases in the Appendix supported the imposition of the death penalty because they involved a deliberate killing during the commission of an armed robbery.

Appeals

Cromartie appealed the death sentence and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed. The decision stated that Cromartie’s trial court rulings and claims were without merit in the enumerations addressed.

Cromartie raised multiple grounds on appeal, including:

• change of venue due to pretrial publicity;
• denial of severance of the Madison Street Deli and Junior Food Store offenses;
• various jury-selection issues related to juror views on capital punishment and death qualification, religious opposition, voir dire scope, and alleged biases;
• claims regarding jury instructions and the refusal to charge felony murder as a lesser-included offense of malice murder;
• claims concerning Brady v. Maryland and Giglio v. United States violations;
• claims for funds to hire a forensic pathologist and a ballistics expert;
• claims regarding probable cause for warrantless arrest and the seizure of shoes after arrest;
• claims related to admissibility and scope of video evidence;
• claims related to admission of crime-scene and pre-autopsy photographs;
• claims challenging accomplice/informant testimony credibility;
• claims related to admissibility standards for plaster cast shoe print evidence; and
• claims of racially discriminatory pursuit and imposition of the death penalty, and claims about juror conduct involving the Bible and the word "malice" in a dictionary.

Cromartie claimed the death penalty was sought and imposed in a racially discriminatory manner. The Supreme Court of Georgia stated that a district attorney’s discretion to seek death was not unfettered and required professional judgment, and it held Cromartie failed to show racial considerations played a part or that decision-makers acted with discriminatory purpose.

Cromartie claimed a juror changed her vote after consulting the Bible and looking up "malice" in a dictionary. At the hearing on Cromartie’s motion for new trial, the juror testified that she read the Bible every day as a personal matter and denied any connection to Cromartie’s case or her sentencing decision. She also denied looking up anything in a dictionary during jury service. The juror and the five other jurors testified that no Bible or dictionary was brought into the jury room and that the Bible did not enter deliberations. The Supreme Court of Georgia held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in crediting juror testimony and concluding the jury based sentencing solely on evidence and jury instructions.

The Supreme Court of Georgia declined to make jurors’ handwritten notes part of the record on appeal.

Aftermath

A habeas corpus hearing took place at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at Jackson, where two local lawmen and an assistant district attorney testified. The judge presiding at Cromartie’s habeas corpus hearing had not filed a decision at the time of the later account. Cromartie remained on death row as of March 5, 2008.

Other details

Cromartie was described as an African-American. He was 41 years old in the account of the habeas corpus hearing.

On October 20, 1994, Cromartie was indicted in Thomas County for malice murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. On October 31, 1994, the State filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty. The jury convicted Cromartie of all counts on September 26, 1997, and on October 1, 1997 sentenced him to death.

The Supreme Court of Georgia decision stated that at Cromartie’s request, the jury was not sequestered.

Counsel and officials mentioned included: J. David Miller, District Attorney; James E. Hardy and Mark E. Mitchell, Assistant District Attorneys; Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General; Susan V. Boleyn, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Christopher L. Phillips, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee; and Michael Mears, for appellant.

The Supreme Court of Georgia described the trial as before Judge Horkan at the Thomas Superior Court. The Supreme Court decision was dated March 8, 1999, with reconsideration denied April 2, 1999.