The Supreme Court of Georgia is scheduled to hear oral arguments Monday in a Gainesville man's appeal of his 2015 murder and conspiracy to commit robbery convictions.
Leshan Tremiele Tanner, 42 at the time of his trial, was sentenced to life in prison in the shooting death of Cedric Huff, 41.
Testimony at trial indicated Tanner and former co-defendant Rodnie Maurice Stokes went to Huff's West Avenue apartment in June of 2014 to buy a half pound of marijuana.
"According to the State, in their attempt to rob Huff of his money and marijuana, Tanner and Stokes struggled with Cedric and during the struggle Huff was shot in the abdomen," a case summary from the high court stated. "Tanner and Stokes then fled."
When Huff awoke from a coma, he implicated Tanner to his mother, and also mentioned the name "Little Monster," Stokes' street name, according to the summary.
Tanner’s attorneys argue the trial court should not have admitted Huff's hearsay statements to his mother because they were, "not sufficiently reliable, and were far less probative than the testimony of another eyewitness, Rodnie Stokes, whose testimony the State had procured but chose not to present," the summary stated Tanner's attorneys argued in briefs.
"Under the circumstances, including the felony exposure that Cedric Huff faced if he told the truth about the incident, his previous lies to the police and his medical condition, these statements are inherently unreliable and lack probative value," Tanner's attorneys argued, according to the summary.
Prosecutors argued that Huff's statements to his mother, "were more probative than any other potentially available evidence as they came directly from the victim," according to the summary.
Huff died of his wounds 17 days after he was shot and a day after speaking to his mother.
Stokes pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and several other charges in September of 2015 and received a 40-year sentence, 20 to serve in prison. Stokes was 28 at the time.
The high court is scheduled to hear arguments during its 10:00 a.m. session.
