## Facts

- Roger Norman was shot in the head and killed on July 8, 1981 while driving south on Interstate 59 in Dade County, Georgia.
- A truck driver observed two cars traveling side by side, heard a shot, and saw Norman’s vehicle veer off the highway.
- The State alleged a contract-killing arrangement financed by Norman’s brother-in-law, Tom Carden, involving multiple attempts and multiple participants.
- The prosecution introduced evidence of a February 6, 1981 attempted killing in Alabama involving Greg Benton and David Oldaker; Kilgore was not implicated in that attempt.
- Evidence tied Kilgore to a June 8, 1981 shooting of Norman near Trenton, Georgia, where Norman survived after being shot in the upper back.
- A witness near a truck stop heard gunshot-like sounds and saw two cars traveling close together; Norman then arrived wounded, and the other car turned away.
- Based on Norman’s description, law enforcement issued a lookout for an early-1960s Rambler with a dark bottom, white top, and Tennessee tags.
- Constance Chambers (Kilgore’s former girlfriend) testified that on June 8, 1981 Kilgore and his cousin borrowed her 1964 Rambler matching that general description, and Kilgore later said they had killed a man near Trenton.
- Chambers testified she overheard Kilgore tell Carden by phone that they had not succeeded and that they would “take care of it.”
- Chambers testified she accompanied Kilgore to Carden’s trailer, where Kilgore retrieved $15,000 from Carden’s mailbox.
- Kilgore was convicted of Norman’s murder in the Dade County Superior Court and sentenced to life imprisonment.

## Issues

1. Whether admission of Oldaker’s testimony repeating Benton’s statement that a man named “Tom” wanted Norman killed was inadmissible hearsay requiring reversal.
2. Whether evidence of other criminal acts (earlier attempts on Norman and evidence about Carden) was admissible to prove matters such as identity, motive, or a common plan.
3. Whether Chambers was an accomplice whose testimony required corroboration, and whether corroboration was sufficient.
4. Whether the evidence as a whole was sufficient to support the murder conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the conviction and life sentence.
- The court treated the challenged portion of Oldaker’s testimony as hearsay but held that any error in admitting it was harmless given the remaining evidence.
- The court upheld admission of other-acts evidence where the State sufficiently connected the acts to Kilgore and to the charged offense to show identity, motive, and common design.
- The court held Chambers was not an accomplice as a matter of law, and her testimony was adequately corroborated in any event.
- The court found the evidence, including Kilgore’s admissions, corroborating vehicle and timing details, and the payment evidence, sufficient for a rational jury to convict.

## Legal Principles

- Erroneous admission of hearsay does not require reversal if the error is harmless in light of the record as a whole.
- Evidence of independent criminal acts may be admitted when the State proves the defendant was the perpetrator of the independent act and shows sufficient similarity or connection to the charged offense to make the evidence relevant to issues such as identity, motive, or common plan.
- A witness is not an accomplice as a matter of law absent participation in, or encouragement of, the charged crime; accomplice-corroboration rules do not apply automatically to close associates.
- Corroboration may be supplied by independent evidence consistent with the witness’s account, including physical or descriptive details and the defendant’s statements and conduct.
- A single conspiracy may include participants who do not know each other’s identities or all operational details, but liability requires meaningful connection to the agreement and its objects.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed Kilgore’s murder conviction, holding that any hearsay error was harmless, that related-acts evidence was admissible when properly connected to Kilgore and the charged killing, that Chambers was not an accomplice requiring special treatment, and that the combined direct and circumstantial evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.


Kilgore v. State, 251 Ga. 291, 305 S.E.2d 82 (1983)