Jackson v. State

314 Ga. 751

879 S.E.2d 410

JACKSON

v.The STATE.

S22A0764

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: October 4, 2022

Elizabeth Ann Brandenburg, Law Firm of Shein & Brandenburg, 2392 North Decatur Road, Decatur Georgia 30033, for Appellant.

Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Emily Rebecca Polk, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta Georgia 30334, Daniel Patrick Bibler, Deputy Chief A.D.A., Anita Reynolds Howard, District Attorney, Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, 661 Mulberry Street, Macon Georgia 31201, for Appellee.

McMillian, Justice.

Following a jury trial in September 2018, Curtis Jackson was convicted of malice murder in connection with the shooting death of Vernard Mays.¹ On appeal, Jackson asserts that the trial court erred (1) in failing to instruct the jury that it must find corroboration for an accomplice's testimony and (2) in failing to excuse Juror Number 22 for cause. Because we conclude that the trial court did not commit any reversible error, we affirm.

The evidence produced at trial showed that on the afternoon of October 27, 2015, a car accident occurred near Second and Ell Street in Macon, outside the house where Mays lived with his mother, Contessa Jones. Mays, who did not know any of the people involved, helped render aid until EMTs arrived. Devonte Hollingshed, one of the passengers injured in the accident, was a member of the "Crips" street gang and had a gun with him in the car at the time of the accident. While Hollingshed was transported to the hospital by ambulance, another passenger, Tymario Williams, hid the gun in the bushes outside Jones's home because he was not sure whether the gun was stolen. Marquis Simmons, Williams's cousin, heard about the accident and went to the scene to retrieve the gun. Simmons later told police officers where the gun was stored in his bedroom.

Not knowing that Simmons had already retrieved the gun, Jackson, also a Crips member, went to Jones's house to locate the gun along with Flowers (a fellow Crips member), Rhodes (a member of the "10-12" street gang), and McDonald (a 10-12 member). Two men nearby told Jackson that they had seen someone from Jones's house take the gun out of the bushes, so Jackson knocked on Jones's front door. Jackson became frustrated when someone inside Jones's house kept asking who was there but would not open the door.

The group then met up with Hardy, dropped Jackson's car off at a gym, and returned to Jones's house in Hardy's car. McDonald, Flowers, Rhodes, and Hardy each had a gun with them; Jackson did not. Jackson directed Hardy to park in an alley near Jones's house. According to Flowers, Jackson was "[s]till kind of frustrated" that he could not find the gun. When no one answered the front door, they went to the back door. Mays opened the back door, and Jackson asked him about the gun. Mays responded, "I don't know what you're talking about." Jackson then said, "[W]ell, if something happens you can't say I didn't say nothing." As soon as Mays began to say, "[W]ell," a gunshot rang out.

Flowers testified that Rhodes, who was carrying a .40-caliber handgun, was the first to shoot, and then he, Hardy, and McDonald also fired shots as they ran away. Flowers saw that Mays had been shot before Mays went back inside the house. Everyone but Jackson returned to Hardy's car. As they drove away, Rhodes told them that he "unloaded his whole clip and he knew he hit [Mays]." The next day, Rhodes told Flowers that he shot Mays because Jackson "gave him a look."

Hardy testified that after their group confronted Mays about the gun, Mays went back inside and was closing the door when Jackson "looked at [Rhodes] some kind of way ... like just like shoot." Jackson then ducked behind a truck, and Rhodes fired a shot. Rhodes then ran off, and McDonald and Flowers started shooting while they ran backwards. At that point, Hardy started shooting as well. Everyone but Jackson, who was "nowhere to be found," ran back to Hardy's car and sped away. Hardy dropped the other three men off at a friend's house and then went to a park and threw his gun away. Jackson called him later that night, but he did not answer.²

Mays's uncle, known as "J-Bone," testified that he was also a Crips member and that on the night of the shooting he received a message from Jackson around 8:30 p.m., stating, "Your people in the house on the south side got my guns, and I'm telling you because you're my homie. I knocked on the door and they were talking through the door." He did not know that Jackson was referring to Mays until he got a call from his sister that Mays had been shot.

Jones testified that around 7:00 p.m. that evening, a man knocked loudly on her door, demanding that she open the door. The man would not tell her who he was or what he wanted. Jones was home alone at the time and refused to open the door. She then heard the man talking to someone else in the yard, cursing and saying, "I'm not going to be talking to this lady through no door." She saw about five men outside, but only one on the porch. They eventually stopped knocking and left. When Mays arrived home later that evening, the knocking began again. The person knocking again refused to respond to their inquiries. After a time, the knocking stopped, and Jones went to her bedroom. While in her room, she heard Mays open the back door and a man say that he was coming to get something. Mays told the man, "We ain't got none of that." The man then said, "I know your uncle." Mays told him, "We don't have it." Then there was a pause and a gunshot. Mays ran into her bedroom and said, "They shot me, Mama." When she looked out the back door, it looked like someone was coming up the steps, so she locked her bedroom door, and she and Mays hid beside her bed while she called 911. She heard several more gunshots as they hid. She also heard the sound of crunching glass and someone say, "We got to finish him off." Mays died in her arms before law enforcement officers arrived. In the days after Mays's death, Jones saw a Facebook post by Rhodes, wherein he referenced killing: "Now's it's like [Lucifer] the only person that understands my pain, he understands that black hole in my soul ... he understands why I kill, he understands why I rob."

Law enforcement officers observed multiple gunshot holes in and around Jones's house and recovered ten shell casings – three .40-caliber casings, six .380-caliber casings, and one 9mm casing – and five projectiles – four .40-caliber projectiles and one .380-caliber projectile. Lieutenant Cedric Penson testified as an expert in gang crimes and explained that a higher ranking gang member, such as Jackson in this situation, would not normally carry a weapon because he would have risen to the point where he did not have to take that risk anymore. And because of Jackson's influence and control over the others, there would have been repercussions if they had not gone along with Jackson. An autopsy revealed that Mays died as a result of a bullet that traveled through his upper thighs, severing his left femoral vein, before lodging in his upper left thigh. A GBI firearms examiner identified the bullet recovered from Mays's autopsy as a .40-caliber projectile.

Jackson testified in his own defense at trial. According to Jackson, he was just trying to help Hollingshed find his gun. After Mays told him that J-Bone was not home and that he did not have the gun, Jackson thanked Mays and turned to leave. He then heard three to four gunshots and took cover behind a truck. He saw someone running down the street, shooting, and believed it was either Hardy, Flowers, or Rhodes. He wanted to call 911, but his cell phone battery had died. He admitted that he initially told responding officers that he did not see the shooters’ faces and did not identify the other four men until he was interviewed later that night. He denied knowing that anyone had a gun, denied that they went to Mays's house with the intent to shoot him, and denied giving a signal to shoot Mays. Jackson admitted that he had been previously convicted of selling cocaine, criminal trespass, and obstruction of government property, and, on cross-examination, the State impeached Jackson's testimony that he had not previously been accused of shooting at anyone.

1. Jackson asserts that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that an accomplice's testimony must be corroborated.

Under Georgia law, "[t]he testimony of a single witness is generally sufficient to establish a fact." OCGA § 24-14-8. However, in "felony cases where the only witness is an accomplice, the testimony of a single witness shall not be sufficient." Id. Thus, when witnesses testify at trial who may be considered accomplices, corroborating evidence is required to support a guilty verdict. See Edwards v. State , 299 Ga. 20, 22 (1), 785 S.E.2d 869 (2016).

Here, the trial court charged the jury, in relevant part:

The testimony of a single witness, if believed, is sufficient to establish a fact. Generally, there is no legal requirement of corroboration of a witness, provided you find the evidence to be sufficient.

The trial court did not charge the jury on the statutory corroboration requirement. Jackson concedes that because he neither requested an accomplice charge nor objected to the single-witness charge as given, we only review this claim for plain error. See OCGA § 17-8-58 (b) ("Failure to object in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section shall preclude appellate review of such portion of the jury charge, unless such portion of the jury charge constitutes plain error which affects substantial rights of the parties."); Munn v. State , 313 Ga. 716, 722 (3), 873 S.E.2d 166 (2022) ("Where a defendant does not request that the trial court give a jury instruction, ... this Court only reviews for plain...