Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Supreme Court June 1 2021
Supreme Court June 1 2021
BETHEL, Justice.
under OCGA § 24-4-404 (b) and that his trial counsel rendered
testimony and for not moving for a mistrial. In Case No. S21A0160,
hearing on January 7, 2020, and denied his motion for new trial on February
6, 2020. Fitts timely filed a notice of appeal.
The jury found Franklin guilty of both counts of felony murder, one count
of burglary, and armed robbery, but acquitted her of the other charges.
Franklin was sentenced to two life sentences to be served concurrently for the
felony murders, 20 years in prison to be served consecutively for burglary, and
a third life sentence for armed robbery to be served concurrently. On
September 15, 2017, Franklin filed a motion for new trial, which was amended
twice. After a hearing, the trial court denied her motion for new trial on
February 7, 2020, and Franklin timely appealed to this Court. These cases
were docketed to the term of court beginning in December 2020, consolidated
for review, and submitted for decision on the briefs.
2
convictions for armed robbery and burglary. We therefore affirm her
convictions for felony murder but vacate her convictions for armed
dating in late 2014 and began living together in early 2015. 2 The
for her after her recent heart surgery. Ansley also testified that she
considered Fitts to be her son, he had lived with her since he was 12
years old, and she allowed him to use her cell phone and her truck.
Fitts’s friend Deaundre Ross, who was dating Franklin’s sister, often
Calvin. Franklin had previously lived with Calvin at his house and
was familiar with some drug activity occurring there. Calvin was a
2 The couple were married in September of 2015, six months after the
crimes at issue.
3
drug dealer, and he kept illegal drugs in his house. The two had
that day, right before she met Calvin at the hotel, phone records
showed that Franklin called Fitts once on Fitts’s own phone and
Fitts’s phone placed him near Calvin’s house during this time.
Franklin testified that Fitts was using Ansley’s phone because his
own was broken. The two had no contact again until 11:22 a.m.,
that the phone calls were about repairs for Ansley’s truck.
and 11:20 a.m., Calvin received a call from Johnson, who said he was
Calvin told Johnson that he was not there and to come back another
3At the time of his arrest several months later, Fitts provided the
number for Ansley’s prepaid phone as his phone number.
4
time. Roughly ten minutes later, Calvin’s cousin, Keith Robertson,
called Calvin to tell him that, as he was driving past Calvin’s house,
he saw two men run from the house toward a truck parked across
that he could go back to check on Calvin’s house and then saw the
check on both Calvin’s son and Posley, who was Calvin’s girlfriend
Robertson saw Johnson dead on the front porch, still holding his
cigarettes and keys. Robertson called for Posley, heard no reply, and
4Neighbors testified that they noticed a truck parked in the sandpit that
morning where they rarely, if ever, saw vehicles parked. One neighbor testified
that he saw the truck leave shortly after 11:00 a.m. Detectives later discovered
that the tires from Ansley’s truck matched the make and size of the tire prints
from the truck parked in the sandpit on the day of the murders.
5
door through the woods to Calvin’s backdoor, where someone had
used a brick to break in. The police discovered Posley, who had been
shot five times, on the floor in the corner of a bedroom, tightly bound
with zip ties. Calvin’s two-year-old son was found unharmed on the
bed. Johnson had been shot eight times through the glass front door.
Calvin testified that his drug merchandise and between $8,000 and
house were all from the same gun; the police also later found shell
casings from this gun both at Ansley’s house5 and at the scene of a
present.
the home they shared with Ansley and took Ansley’s truck for
5Ansley testified that Fitts and Ross would occasionally engage in target
practice in the yard.
6
Ross and that Fitts and Ross spent the rest of the day at Ansley’s
Calvin after the shootings. However, she asked him as often as every
GBI. Franklin claimed that on the day of the crimes, she and Fitts
returned straight home after dropping off Ansley’s truck for repairs,
and that Fitts then stayed in his room. She made no mention of Ross
While Fitts was in jail in March 2017, his sister asked him in
a recorded call, “So you did the shooting?” Fitts responded, “No, but
I was there, and I had a big part in it. Not with that one anyway.”
Fitts’s sister asked why Fitts would “do something like that,”
7
referring to the crimes. Fitts recounted how badly he needed money
but that the crime “wasn’t supposed to go like that.” Fitts said that
things that he would not normally do, and that remembering the
9-1 (b). The trial court denied the motion at that point. Fitts declined
unknown to Fitts, she and Calvin had secretly planned to meet for
sex, that she had no knowledge that the crimes were being
committed during her tryst with Calvin, and that she could not
account for why Fitts had decided to commit the crimes at Calvin’s
6 Fitts does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence to support his
convictions, and for non-death penalty cases that were docketed to the term of
court beginning in December 2020, we no longer routinely conduct a sua sponte
sufficiency review. See Davenport v. State, 309 Ga. 385, 399 (4) (b) (846 SE2d
83) (2020).
8
Case No. S21A0159
OCGA § 24-4-404 (b), and in charging the jury on the limited purpose
A few weeks after the murders, Deaundre Ross, who was Fitts’s
casings on the street and inside the SUV. After the shooting, Ross’s
SUV broke down due to a bullet hole in its gas tank, so Fitts gave
Ross and Ross’s brother a ride back to Ross’s father’s house. Law
this shooting incident matched the casings found at the scene of the
murders and at Ansley’s home where Fitts lived and Ross often
visited, meaning that the same gun had been used at all three
9
locations.
404 (b)”), and after a hearing, the trial court ruled that the evidence
404 (b). Assuming without deciding that the evidence of the shooting
whether it is highly probable that the error did not contribute to the
277, 283 (2) (830 SE2d 90) (2019). When applying a harmless-error
in the shooting. At trial, the State presented evidence that Fitts was
10
driving behind Ross’s SUV when Ross used a gun in the shooting,
that the gun was the same one that was used in the murders three
weeks earlier and at Ansley’s house where Fitts lived and Ross often
visited, and that Fitts later drove Ross and Ross’s younger brother
was with Ross “doing another shooting together” when the murder
weapon was used in the shooting incident, the State emphasized the
the gun belonged to Ross and that it was Ross’s personal weapon
that he would not have shared. And the trial court gave a limiting
11
incident, the evidence presented at trial as to Fitts’s guilt for the
calls with his sister, Fitts admitted to playing a “big part” in the
for the robbery, and said that he felt guilty about his participation.
Also, the tire tracks found at the scene were consistent with the tires
on Ansley’s truck that Fitts drove, and cell-site location data placed
shooting incident did not contribute to the jury’s verdicts. See Lofton
v. State, 309 Ga. 349, 356-59 (3) (846 SE2d 57) (2020) (error was
argument, and “any harm . . . was lessened because the State did
not try to use the [evidence] to establish that Appellant rather than
[his co-defendant] was the shooter”); Taylor, 306 Ga. at 283 (2) (error
12
was harmless because the evidence was strong and there was no
We disagree.
U.S. 668, 687 (III) (104 SCt 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984). If Fitts
need not address the other, and his claim will not succeed. See id.
asked about his son’s involvement in the March 31, 2015, shooting
13
incident: “Did you know – did [Ross], your son, tell you anything
about the gun he had that day?” Ross’s father responded, “I know –
Fitts.” The State then asked for a bench conference, during which a
this response. The State and each defense counsel agreed to move
on after the trial court gave the jury the curative instruction: “the
previous answer that you just heard, you are instructed by the Court
under Bruton [v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (88 SCt 1620, 20 LE2d
trial.” Battle v. State, 301 Ga. 694, 700 (4) (804 SE2d 46) (2017). In
had invoked his right against self-incrimination and did not testify,
criminal prosecution. See Billings v. State, 293 Ga. 99, 104 (4) (745
SE2d 583) (2013); see also Allen v. State, 300 Ga. 500, 504 (3) (796
after crimes and before arrests were not testimonial). Here, Ross
made the statement shortly after the shooting incident, before any
testimony based on Bruton would have been meritless. See Reed, 307
Ga. at 536 (2) (c) (failure to make meritless objection does not
Fitts’s claim that his counsel should have objected to this testimony
16
admitted into evidence. Instead, upon agreement of the parties, the
trial court instructed the jury that it was to disregard Ross’s father’s
Moreover, at the hearing on Fitts’s motion for new trial, trial counsel
testified that she feared that Ross’s father possessed more direct
assistance, or that [Fitts] would have been granted a mistrial but for
omitted.) Allen v. State, 277 Ga. 502, 503 (3) (a) (591 SE2d 784)
17
law to support her convictions for felony murder, burglary, and
armed robbery and that the trial court should have therefore
Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560)
(1979); State v. Holmes, 304 Ga. 524, 526-27 (1) (820 SE2d 26)
punctuation omitted.) Smith v. State, 304 Ga. 752, 754 (822 SE2d
220) (2018). “Under this review, we must put aside any questions
18
about conflicting evidence, the credibility of witnesses, or the weight
Frazier v. State, 308 Ga. 450, 452-53 (2) (a) (841 SE2d 692) (2020).
however, is usually a question for the jury, and this Court will not
Frazier, 308 Ga. at 453 (2) (a). In reviewing whether the prosecution
ruled out every reasonable hypothesis, we ask whether the jury was
case instead. See Guzman-Perez v. State, 310 Ga. 573 (1) (853 SE2d
19
sense understanding of the world” that “are ordinarily drawn by
construe the evidence in the light favoring the jury’s verdicts and
20
principles of accomplice liability, we conclude that the evidence was
involvement in the crime could have served as direct evidence of the opposite
proposition. But we need not decide whether that is so here, nor if so, whether
and how much corroborative evidence would be required to support a
defendant’s disbelieved testimony because the circumstantial evidence here,
when construed in favor of the verdicts, is sufficient to support the verdicts the
jury returned. Cf. Daughtie v. State, 297 Ga. 261, 263-264 (2) (773 SE2d 263)
(2015) (where there is no other evidence of defendant’s guilt, then jury disbelief
of a defendant’s testimony, alone, is insufficient to sustain a conviction).
21
the evidence excluded “every other reasonable hypothesis save that
between Fitts and Calvin; planned to meet and did meet Calvin at a
Fitts on the phone shortly before and after the crimes were
so that they could drop off Ansley’s truck, which was seen by
rather than Fitts’s real last name when she was first interviewed.
Further, the jury was entitled to believe the State’s theory and infer
absence during the planned burglary; that the crimes would not
mislead investigators, Franklin gave the GBI a false name for Fitts;
22
and that Franklin continued contact with Calvin, but not their
testimony that immediately before and after the crimes the jury
found Fitts to have directly committed, she and Fitts spoke on the
phone multiple times but only discussed how Ansley’s truck needed
repair; she and Fitts used Ansley’s prepaid phone because his other
phone, which he used throughout the same day, was broken; and her
commit the murders, for the reasons outlined above the jury was
292 Ga. 276, 279 (1) (736 SE2d 412) (2013) (defendant guilty for
23
dangerous and created a foreseeable risk of death); Parks v. State,
272 Ga. 353, 354 (529 SE2d 127) (2000) (same). Accordingly,
convicted of crimes he or she did not commit, and that in these cases
24
standard of review violates Franklin’s right to due process under the
review.
that his defense strategy was to show that Franklin was a credible,
25
trial counsel performed deficiently, Franklin must prove that
State, 308 Ga. 455, 458 (2) (841 SE2d 686) (2020). “Trial tactics or
strategy are almost never adequate grounds for finding trial counsel
contrary, counsel’s actions are presumed strategic. See id. at 461 (2).
defendants, his strategy was to show that she was not a co-
conspirator but was merely caught in a love triangle that led to the
might not have been the best choice of words for counsel to use before
26
employed that description consistent with a reasonable trial
would have made this choice under the circumstances, she has not
conviction and sentences. See Dixon v. State, 302 Ga. 691, 696-97 (4)
sentences for both felony murder counts and armed robbery and to
27
robbery, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and home
invasion.” The jury did not specify which felony served as the basis
ambiguity exists in the jury’s verdicts because the jury did not
v. State, 274 Ga. 819, 821 (1) (561 SE2d 82) (2002).
conviction for armed robbery should have merged into one of her
convictions for felony murder. See Robertson v. State, 268 Ga. 772,
780 (22) (493 SE2d 697 (1997) (where unclear which of armed
robbery and burglary was the underlying felony for a single felony
Likewise, her conviction for burglary should have merged into her
28
For the reasons set forth above, we affirm Franklin’s
burglary and armed robbery, which should have merged with her
29
S21A0159. FITTS v. THE STATE.
S21A0160. FRANKLIN v. THE STATE.
and helping take a vehicle for repairs. Because I disagree that there
30
of these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt, I respectfully dissent to
See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61
LE2d 560) (1979). This Jackson v. Virginia standard has been cited
over 13,000 times in Georgia appellate courts, but rarely has the
The Jackson Court explained the reason for this standard of review:
can be said that no rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a
reasonable doubt.” Id. at 317 (III) (B). So “the critical inquiry” must
prosecution,” whether any rational trier of fact could have found the
31
essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at
318-19 (III) (B). In conducting this inquiry, the trier of fact is given
Franklin was not directly involved in the shootings and instead was
intent with the direct perpetrators of the crime, and a jury may infer
and after the crimes. Coates v. State, 310 Ga. 94, 98 (849 SE2d 435)
(2020).
32
accused.” OCGA § 24-14-6. Because “not every hypothesis is
State, 305 Ga. 863, 868 (2) (828 SE2d 317) (2019) (cleaned up).
usually a question for the jury, and this Court will not disturb the
State, 308 Ga. 450, 453 (2) (a) (841 SE2d 692) (2020).
Here, “[w]hat the evidence produced by the State did not show
and the crimes charged.” Clyde v. State, 276 Ga. 839, 839 (584 SE2d
33
crimes); Moore v. State, 255 Ga. 519, 520-21 (1) (340 SE2d 888)
conviction even though both brothers had motive and fled together
the brother’s presence at the scene of the crime); Brown v. State, 250
Ga. 862, 864-65 (1) (302 SE2d 347) (1983) (evidence of presence,
taking the truck used by Fitts for repairs, and Franklin’s denials
that she was involved.11 Moreover, although the jury could have
10 I also note that the majority does not point to any case in which
the evidence has been found sufficient under similar circumstances.
11 The majority also notes that the jury could have disbelieved
34
inferred from the evidence presented that Fitts knew from Franklin
that Calvin would be out of the house on the morning of the murders
and that he kept drugs and money there, the State failed to produce
whereabouts of your significant other with a third party, phone calls, and
taking a vehicle for repairs would not be uncommon in many intimate
partner relationships, so I would conclude that a rational jury could not
have reasonably inferred Franklin’s criminal intent from this conduct
beyond a reasonable doubt.
35
and that as a result, Franklin’s convictions must be reversed, and
she cannot be retried. See Jefferson v. State, 310 Ga. 725, 726 (854
SE2d 528) (2021) (citing Burks v. United States, 437 U.S. 1, 16-17
dissent.
36
In the Supreme Court of Georgia
PETERSON, Justice.
who was a juvenile at the time the crime was committed, also
the evidence was sufficient to convict Holmes and that any error in
the trial court’s instruction to the jury did not amount to plain error
because the instruction did not affect the outcome of his trial. We
also conclude that Holmes’s sentence of life without parole was not
U.S. ___ (141 SCt 1307, 209 LE2d 390) (2021). We therefore affirm.
2
saw by the light of a porch lamp a person whom he later identified
as Holmes, standing outside the door and saying, “I got your money.
went to Alston’s bedroom and relayed what Holmes said. Alston told
door and opened it, with Willingham standing behind him. Holmes
again said, “I got your money. I was just playing.” But Holmes then
pulled a gun out of his pocket and began shooting. Willingham was
shot in his thigh while running for cover but managed to hide in the
Holmes shot him three times. Holmes continued to shoot until the
gun was empty and then left. Willingham testified that neither he
nor Alston had a knife or any other weapon when they opened the
door. He also said that he did not confront Holmes and did not
believe that Alston did either, nor did he hear any scuffle after
3
floor and unresponsive. Paramedics attempted to resuscitate Alston,
but he was pronounced dead on the scene. The police did not find
Butler, to pick him up at the mobile home park, telling Butler that
he had “messed up” and “got him one.” Butler’s girlfriend, Princess
Holmes told Brown and Butler that some “work” was stolen from
him and two people owed him money, he was heated about it, he
went to their door to collect the money, and when they refused to
pay, he shot them. He told Butler that he shot one person in the head
or chest and killed him, but the second person did not die. Holmes
and said that he was “crazy” and “that’s what they get.”
4
that he had sold crack cocaine to other customers the day before the
shooting, and that he went to the mobile home on the night of the
Alston’s request. Holmes claimed that Alston opened the door and
saying, “give me that ‘S’ before I kill you.” Holmes told Alston “all
right,” but when Alston reached up, Holmes grabbed his pistol and
shot Alston while Holmes was running out of the mobile home.
not once during his four interviews did he mention selling drugs to
Alston; instead, he told the police that Alston owed him money and
5
a reasonable doubt that he acted in self-defense. We disagree.
rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (99 SCt
2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court views the evidence in the
State, 292 Ga. 506, 506 (739 SE2d 313) (2013) (citation and
punctuation omitted).
the jury could have rejected Holmes’s claim that he was acting in
self-defense. See Mims v. State, ___ Ga. ___, ____ (854 SE2d 742)
6
as some corroborative evidence exists for the charged offense.”
(citation omitted)); see also Shaw v. State, 292 Ga. 871, 872 (1) (742
are for the jury to decide, and the jury is free to reject a defendant’s
testified that he and Alston were unarmed when they opened the
police that Holmes told them he shot the victims because they
in charging the jury to “consider with great care and caution” his
7
You should consider with great care and caution the
evidence of any out-of-court statement allegedly made by
the Defendant offered by the State. The jury may believe
any such statement in whole or in part, believing that
which you find to be true and rejecting that which you find
to be untrue. You alone have the right to apply the general
rules of testing the believability of witnesses and to decide
what weight should be given to all or part of such
evidence.
Holmes argues that this pattern charge violated his right to due
process because the trial court did not clarify that the jury’s duty to
consider his statements with “great care and caution” applied only
his trial testimony. Holmes claims that the charge relieved the State
reasonable doubt because his trial testimony was the only evidence
of his sole defense (self-defense) and the trial court did not instruct
same scrutiny.
8
Holmes did not object to the charge at trial, so we review this
claim only for plain error. See OCGA § 17-8-58 (b) (failure to object
the jury charge, unless such portion of the jury charge constitutes
establish plain error, Holmes “must point to an error that was not
affirmatively waived, the error must have been clear and not open
rights, and the error must have seriously affected the fairness,
State, 307 Ga. 545, 547-548 (2) (837 SE2d 261) (2019) (citation and
probably did affect the outcome below.” McKinney v. State, 307 Ga.
129, 135 (2) (b) (834 SE2d 741) (2019) (citation and punctuation
omitted). If Holmes fails to meet any one of the elements of the plain
error test, his claim fails. See Denson, 307 Ga. at 548 (2).
9
the plain error test, Holmes cannot show that the complained-of
context, see Campbell v. State, 292 Ga. 766, 769 (3) (740 SE2d 115)
custodial statements. See Williamson v. State, 305 Ga. 889, 896 (3)
10
3. Holmes was four days shy of his eighteenth birthday when
because the United States Supreme Court has recently made clear
the record here showing that the trial court did not consider the
relevant factors.
in church” and “knew right from wrong” and that his family talked
11
argued that an LWOP sentence was excessive given Holmes’s age,
The 2013 sentencing hearing was held after the United States
(132 SCt 2455, 183 LE2d 407) (2012). The trial judge did not
12
In Miller, the United States Supreme Court held that a
Louisiana, 577 U.S. 190 (136 SCt 718, 193 LE2d 599) (2016), that
proceedings. See id. at 212. In so doing, the Supreme Court said that
“the sentencing judge [must] take into account how children are
still violates the Eighth Amendment for a child whose crime reflects
13
rare juvenile offender who exhibits such irretrievable depravity that
and that a[n] LWOP sentence is not permitted for “the vast majority
State, 298 Ga. 691 (784 SE2d 403) (2016), that it was not enough for
age and associated characteristics. See id. at 703 (5) (d). Rather, we
14
characteristics of children are relevant to sentencing. Id. at 702 (5)
a reasonable doubt. See Raines v. State, 309 Ga. 258, 268 (2) (c) (845
SE2d 613) (2020); White v. State, 307 Ga. 601, 605-606 (3) (a) (837
Jones, which confirmed that we were right not to extend Veal and,
15
explanation of the sentence containing an “implicit finding” of
Supreme Court upheld the sentence, holding that Miller does not
18. See Jones, 141 SCt at 1314-1319. And the Court rejected Jones’s
the Court’s analogous death penalty precedents, and (3) not dictated
“if the sentencer has discretion to consider the defendant’s youth [as
16
1319.
mistaken.
Holmes argues that his sentence is void because the trial court did
703 (5) (d). But Jones makes it clear that no such determination need
17
Holmes also argues that the trial court failed sufficiently to
also State v. Abbott, 309 Ga. 715, 719 (2) (848 SE2d 105) (2020)
(“Trial judges too are presumed to know the law and apply it in
not show that the trial court failed to consider the required factors;
rather, the record shows that the trial court did consider them.
18
and possibility for rehabilitation. The trial judge heard evidence
knew and applied its holding. And in denying Holmes’s motion for
new trial, the trial judge stated that he considered Holmes’s age and
19
In the Supreme Court of Georgia
BETHEL, Justice.
storage unit.
new trial, which he subsequently amended. The trial court denied the motion
for new trial, as amended, on December 16, 2015, and Tyler filed a timely notice
of appeal on December 30, 2015. The case was docketed in this Court on April
27, 2017, as case number S17A1524, but was remanded to the trial court on
June 30, 2017, so that the complete record of the proceedings could be
transmitted to this Court. On January 28, 2019, the trial court entered an
order certifying that the record was complete and ordering the clerk of court to
transmit the complete record to this Court upon the filing of a new notice of
appeal by Tyler. On February 15, 2019, Tyler filed a notice of appeal. This case
was docketed in this Court to the April 2021 term and submitted for a decision
on the briefs.
2
Fulkrod left a voicemail with his supervisor that all was clear at
time.
the gate open but did not see anyone in the guard shack to grant him
entrance. The employee exited his vehicle, looked through the guard
Fulkrod had been shot in the head and died from his wounds. A 9mm
have been used to cut the upper warehouse lock. Investigators also
located forklift tire tracks leading to the lower warehouse and tire
tracks from a vehicle with four rear tires leading from the company’s
and back out. They also located work boot impressions in the dirt at
3
the crime scene, a pair of bolt-cutters, and a destroyed lock by the
away from the grocery store, the police found Tyler lying beside a U-
Haul truck in the parking lot of a gas station. Tyler initially gave
the police a false name, and after being given Miranda warnings, 2
Tyler told investigators that he was using the U-Haul truck to move
himself and his wife from his mother’s house into a new apartment.
2 See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (86 SCt 1602, 16 LE2d 694)
(1966).
4
dehydration.
That same day, Tyler’s wife told investigators that she had
been living with her mother and was not moving into a new
apartment with Tyler. She also stated that she brought Tyler a
broom at his request to clean out the U-Haul. Tyler’s mother told
investigators that she had not seen her son in five years. When
investigators returned to the hospital later that day and told Tyler
what they had learned from his wife and mother, Tyler could not
investigators, Tyler denied that those items had been in the U-Haul
when he rented it, but stated that he was the only one who had
driven or had access to the truck. Investigators also found that the
5
and copper bits scattered around outside the unit. The amount of
copper discovered in the storage unit and behind the grocery store
revealed proof that he had done so, Tyler admitted that he rented
the unit. Tyler admitted that the storage unit’s key was on a lanyard
that officers had taken from him and stated that no one else had the
key. However, he denied that there was any copper in the unit and
backed the U-Haul into the unit at Tyler’s request on the evening of
June 4.
renting a forklift, and notes detailing U-Haul truck rental costs and
6
locations throughout the Southeast. Additionally, investigators
State did not establish each element of the offenses and because the
engaged in any of the crimes, and did not preclude the possibility
that someone else committed the crimes. Tyler also argues that the
felony because it was equally possible that the copper was taken
before Fulkrod’s shooting, and thus a jury could not find that the
7
States Constitution, the proper standard of review is whether a
rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a
(B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court views the evidence
(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Hayes v. State, 292 Ga. 506, 506
3 This case was tried prior to the current Evidence Code becoming
effective in 2013. However, this provision “was carried forward into the new
8
reasonable or whether the circumstantial evidence excludes every
to the jury, and this Court “will not disturb that finding unless it is
(2) (834 SE2d 83) (2019). “[I]t was for the jury to determine the
Bamberg v. State, 308 Ga. 340, 343 (1) (a) (839 SE2d 640) (2020).
OCGA § 16-5-1 (c) provides that “[a] person commits the offense of
Evidence Code, and it now can be found at OCGA § 24-14-6.” Gibson v. State,
300 Ga. 494, 495 (1) n.4 (796 SE2d 712) (2017).
9
Fulkrod. OCGA § 16-5-21 (a) (2) provides, in relevant part, that “[a]
5-20 (a).
assault. The jury could conclude from the evidence presented at trial
and summarized above that Tyler shot Fulkrod so that he could steal
conviction for burglary. Under the statute in effect at the time of the
crimes, OCGA § 16-7-1 (a) provided that “[a] person commits the
10
evidence presented at trial authorized the jury to determine that
Blackshear v. State, 309 Ga. 479, 484 (1) (847 SE2d 317) (2020). The
burglary.
11
The indictment alleged that Tyler committed armed robbery in
State, 300 Ga. 574, 577 (2) (a) (797 SE2d 107) (2017). A defendant
and then takes property in his possession. See Hester v. State, 282
Ga. 239, 240 (2) (647 SE2d 60) (2007). The evidence was sufficient
for the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the State
regularly recorded the name and time of people arriving at the gate,
and there was an incomplete entry at 4:40 a.m. The jury could
conclude that Tyler arrived in the rented U-Haul at the main gate
and then shot Fulkrod before entering the property to complete the
trial, the jury could infer that he needed time to cut the upper
warehouse lock with a welding torch and to drive the forklift from
any way to keep him from calling the police while the theft was
favorable to the verdicts, this evidence was sufficient for the jury to
conclude that Tyler shot Fulkrod before stealing the copper. See
Lumpkin v. State, 310 Ga. 139, 146 (1) (a) (849 SE2d 175, 182) (2020)
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(evidence sufficient to prove defendant’s use of an offensive weapon
State, 307 Ga. 44, 49-50 (2) (b) (834 SE2d 83) (2019) (same). The
involvement in the crimes and now argues that the State’s evidence
was circumstantial and did not exclude the possibility that someone
found by the police tied Tyler to the crimes, including a large volume
of copper and copper scraps found in and around the storage unit
14
forklift operator. The jury was authorized to accept the State’s
theory of the crimes and was not required to conclude that the
Based on the foregoing, the jury was authorized to find that the
the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdicts and deferring
(B); see also Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32, 33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009) (“It
was for the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses and to
15
resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence.” (citation
omitted)).
16