Beck v. State

825 S.E.2d 184
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided March 4, 2019·No. S18A1593·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

Warren, Justice.

Dallas Jarvis Beck was convicted of felony murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime in connection with the shooting death of Corey Liverpool.1 On *185appeal, Beck contends that the trial court erred by refusing to charge the jury on voluntary manslaughter, that Beck was denied a fair trial because jurors considered extrajudicial information during deliberations in reaching a verdict, and that Beck was denied a fair trial because the trial court refused to admit certain evidence of specific instances of the victim's violent conduct, reputation evidence of the victim, and evidence of the victim's violence-themed tattoos. For the reasons that follow, the judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded with direction.

1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdicts, the evidence presented at trial showed the following. On August 26, 2012, Beck and his girlfriend, Lakeya Burroughs, were both present in her apartment at various points throughout the day leading up to the shooting. That evening, two residents of the apartment complex, Grady Lamb and Valeriea Holiday, sat outside watching children and adults play basketball in the parking lot. Corey Liverpool and Burroughs's son were among those playing. During the game, Liverpool accidentally knocked Burroughs's son to the ground. The son then ran to Burroughs and told Burroughs that Liverpool, whom the son called "Uncle Killer," was outside.

Burroughs grabbed Beck's pistol to confront Liverpool, but Beck took it from her before she left the apartment. Liverpool and Burroughs ended up at the sidewalk between the basketball game and Burroughs's apartment, where they argued. Burroughs yelled and cursed at Liverpool, shoved him, "grabbed at his private area," and spit on him. Lamb and Holiday, who were watching from their porch, testified that Liverpool appeared calm throughout the confrontation and kept his hands by his side.

During the argument, Beck watched from the breezeway wall directly outside of Burroughs's apartment-pistol in his waistband-approximately three to five feet from Liverpool and Burroughs. After Burroughs spit on Liverpool, Liverpool stepped toward her. Beck then pulled his pistol out, came between them, and stated to Liverpool, "I wish you would." Before Liverpool could react, Beck fired his weapon, shooting Liverpool once in his right eye. Liverpool collapsed, and Beck said to Burroughs, "I told you so, I told you so," and fled, throwing his pistol into the woods behind Burroughs's apartment building. Liverpool did not have a weapon.

At trial, Beck admitted to shooting Liverpool, but claimed that he was acting in self-defense and in defense of Burroughs. Burroughs testified that after she spit on Liverpool, she "seen him about to hit me so I closed my eyes," and then heard a shot. Beck claimed that Liverpool raised his hand and seemed to be either pulling a weapon or preparing to strike Burroughs. To support their version of events, Beck and Burroughs testified that they had known, and Burroughs had been friends with, Liverpool for several years; that they knew Liverpool by his nickname, "Killer," and believed him to be dangerous and to carry a pistol at all times; and that they believed Liverpool was out to get Beck because of an incident pertaining to a stolen truck in which Beck was involved. Beck further testified about an incident two days before the shooting that he said contributed to his fear of Liverpool: when Beck was at a bus stop picking up Burroughs's children, Liverpool-who was also there picking *186up children-flashed a pistol at Beck and made a threatening gesture. Beck claimed that these events led to his fear of Liverpool and prompted him to purchase the pistol that he ultimately used to kill Liverpool.

Although Beck has not challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions, it is our customary practice to review the record for sufficiency of the evidence in murder cases. We have done so here and conclude that the evidence presented against Beck was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307, 318-319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Beck asserts that he was denied a fair trial because jurors considered extrajudicial information regarding sentencing in reaching a verdict. At the motion for new trial hearing, eleven of the twelve jurors testified regarding this issue.2 Three jurors, C.C., A.J., and M.H., testified that the jury discussed sentencing during deliberations. C.C. and M.H. testified that the sentencing discussions did not affect their verdicts, but A.J. gave inconsistent testimony on this point. Moreover, when C.C. was asked by defense counsel whether the sentencing information came from other jurors, she responded: "No. No. It was given to us and I don't know, I don't remember who. It was, I don't know whether, I don't know. We, it, nobody brought it, like brought it to court to say hey look what I found. No. But, I cannot remember how that was done. I don't remember." The eight other jurors testified that they did not consider sentencing during deliberations. In denying the motion for new trial, the trial court relied expressly on C.C.'s and M.H.'s testimony that the sentencing discussions did not affect their verdicts and also on its finding that A.J.'s testimony about sentencing discussions affecting her verdict was not credible because of inconsistencies in her testimony.

For the reasons that follow, we conclude that it is necessary to vacate the trial court's judgment and remand for further consideration of this issue consistent with this opinion. We have a new Evidence Code provision, see OCGA § 24-6-606 (b), that governs what is or is not admissible to sustain or impeach a verdict. Rule 606 (b) is borrowed from the Federal Rules of Evidence and provides that

Upon an inquiry into the validity of a verdict or indictment, a juror shall not testify by affidavit or otherwise nor shall a juror's statements be received in evidence as to any matter or statement occurring during the course of the jury's deliberations or to the effect of anything upon the jury deliberations or any other juror's mind or emotions as influencing the juror to assent to or dissent from the verdict or indictment or concerning the juror's mental processes in connection therewith; provided, however, that a juror may testify on the question of whether extraneous prejudicial information was improperly brought to the juror's attention, whether any outside influence was improperly brought to bear upon any juror, or whether there was a mistake in entering the verdict onto the verdict form.

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Beck v. State, 825 S.E.2d 184 (Ga. 2019).

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