MCCULLUM v. THE STATE
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In November 2019, Samuel Earl McCullum was convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of Monica Blackwell and the 1999 rape of another woman identified as C.C. McCullum appealed, asserting that the evidence presented in court was insufficient to support his convictions for the murder and rape of Blackwell. He claimed that there was no evidence showing that he intoxicated Blackwell or was connected to the drugs she took before her death, nor that the sexual encounter with Blackwell was non-consensual. McCullum also argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the count of rape against C.C. on constitutional speedy trial grounds and in denying his motion to sever that count from the counts related to Blackwell’s murder and rape.
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the trial court's decision. The court found that the evidence was constitutionally sufficient to convict McCullum of Blackwell’s rape and murder. The medical examiner's testimony established that while Blackwell died of cocaine intoxication, the combination of the cocaine, the head injuries inflicted by McCullum, and the rape materially accelerated her death. The court also found that McCullum's constitutional right to a speedy trial was not violated and it did not abuse its discretion in denying McCullum's motion to sever the counts.
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