Henderson v. State

In Henderson v. State, 285 Ga. 240, 244-245 (5) (675 SE2d 28) (2009), three gunmen entered a duplex and robbed four victims at gunpoint. Id. at 241 (1). "These four victims were then ordered into one room and told to remove their clothes and get on the floor." Id. After the completion of an armed robbery, four victims were "ordered into one room and told to remove their clothes and get on the floor." Id. at 241. Convicted on four counts of kidnapping and of armed robbery, one of the gunmen appealed, arguing that under Garza (Garza v. State, 284 Ga. 696, 702 (1) (670 SE2d 73) (2008)) the element of asportation was not shown. Sustaining the kidnapping convictions, Henderson conceded that "the movement of the victims from one room to another within the duplex was of minimal duration," but held that "such movement was not an inherent part of the armed robbery" and in fact "occurred after the offense of armed robbery had been completed." Id. at 245 (5). In Henderson, the Supreme Court of Georgia addressed a scenario where the victims of an armed robbery were moved at gunpoint from one room to another within a two-room duplex and ordered to remove their clothes and get on the floor after the completion of the robbery inside the duplex. There, the Court held that this movement did support a kidnapping conviction because the movement was independent of the completed armed robbery, and the movement "created an additional danger to the victims by enhancing the control of the gunmen over them." Henderson, 285 Ga. at 245 (5). The Supreme Court held that evidence of asportation was sufficient where the movement of victims from one room to another within the duplex after the completion of an armed robbery enhanced control of the gunmen over them. Id. at 245 (5).In sum, the defendants ordered the victims to empty their pockets and then coerced the victims into another room at gunpoint. Supra, 285 Ga. at 241 (1). Our Supreme Court determined that the movement was not part of the robbery, which had already occurred, but that it did create "an additional danger to the victims by enhancing the control of the gunmen over them." Id. at 245 (5).