Martinez v. State

Ray, Judge.

A jury convicted Cornell Elijah Martinez of one count of armed robbery,1 one count of burglary,2 and six counts of false imprisonment.3 After a hearing, the trial court denied Martinez’s motion for a new trial. Martinez appeals, contending that the trial court erred because after granting a motion for directed verdicts of acquittal on six kidnapping charges, it allowed the jury to consider the lesser included charges of false imprisonment. Martinez also enumerates as error the trial court’s statement that, because of limited space, the public would be excluded from the courtroom…