Jordan v. State

814 S.E.2d 682
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMay 21, 2018
DocketS18A0114
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 814 S.E.2d 682 (Jordan v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jordan v. State, 814 S.E.2d 682 (Ga. 2018).

Opinion

Hunstein, Justice.

Michael Jordan was convicted of felony murder and related offenses arising out of the shooting death of Stacy Johnson and the aggravated assaults of Rodney Miles and *685Shatik Bryant. On appeal, Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to sustain the verdicts, that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, that he was entitled to a mistrial, and that the trial court should have granted his motion for new trial. Though we find no reversible error, we do see error in certain aspects of Appellant's sentence, and we must, therefore, vacate and remand for resentencing.1

1. When viewed in a light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. On the evening of March 3, 2013, Shatik Bryant, Rodney Miles, Darnell Miles, and Stacy Johnson made the short drive from Bryant's gated apartment complex to a local gas station and convenience store. While in the store, Bryant and Rodney observed a man wearing a dark-colored, letterman-style jacket emblazoned with "Southside Mafia Elite" encircling a hand sign understood by the men to be a gang symbol. Indeed, the jury heard testimony that the Southside Mafia is a gang that operates in Clayton County with territory near to or including the convenience store. Bryant testified that he was familiar with the gang and that he had no concerns with the man's presence in the store, even though Johnson was a member of a rival gang-the "Hit Squad." Though nothing transpired inside the store, the man became aggressive in the parking lot, flashing gang signs and yelling at the four men. After responding with his own heated words, Bryant left with his friends to return to the apartment, driving past the man as he stood next to a blue Dodge Avenger.

Moments later, the group of men heard squealing tires and observed the blue Dodge quickly approaching from the rear; gunfire erupted from the blue Dodge, shattering the back window and striking Johnson in the head. A nearby resident also heard squealing tires and five very loud gunshots from a passing vehicle. Bryant turned into the entrance of his apartment complex, but it was blocked by a car waiting at the gate. Bryant and the Miles brothers ran from their vehicle after the blue Dodge missed the turn, but the reprieve was short lived as the blue Dodge turned around and assailed the men with a second round of gunfire.

Emergency services transported Johnson to Grady Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. At the hospital, investigators interviewed Bryant and Rodney, both of whom independently identified Appellant in a photographic lineup as the man from the convenience store with the blue Dodge. Meanwhile, law enforcement recovered six *686shell casings at the entrance of the apartment and secured surveillance video from the convenience store, which shows Bryant and his friends, as well as Appellant, independently shopping in the store. A gas station employee identified Appellant as a regular and testified that, on the night of the shooting, Appellant was in the store, wearing his letterman-style jacket, and driving a blue Dodge Avenger.

Investigators later searched the apartment that Appellant shared with his girlfriend, Alexandria Grace, and discovered under a sofa a "Southside Mafia" jacket and a .40 caliber Taurus pistol. Grace testified that both the jacket and the firearm belonged to Appellant, and, further, that she had permitted him to use her bluish-grey Dodge Avenger on the night of the shootings. The State's firearm expert opined that the six shell casings recovered from the scene came from Appellant's .40 caliber Taurus; the gun did not, however, match the projectile recovered from the deceased. Finally, the State adduced evidence that, at the time of the murder, Appellant had previously been convicted of a felony.

Appellant asserts that the evidence was insufficient because the State's case was speculative, conflicting, and filled with "mistrustful" testimony. However, " '[t]his Court does not reweigh evidence or resolve conflicts in testimony; instead, evidence is reviewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, with deference to the jury's assessment of the weight and credibility of the evidence.' " (Citations omitted.) Hayes v. State, 292 Ga. 506, 506, 739 S.E.2d 313 (2013). Likewise, there is no merit to Appellant's complaint that the State failed to adduce fingerprint evidence, DNA evidence, or the actual murder weapon. "Although the State is required to prove its case with competent evidence, there is no requirement that it prove its case with any particular sort of evidence." Plez v. State, 300 Ga. 505, 506, 796 S.E.2d 704 (2017).

The evidence presented below established that, on the night in question, Appellant-a convicted felon and gang member-was at the convenience store driving a blue Dodge Avenger where he encountered the victims, including Johnson, a member of a rival gang. After a verbal altercation between Appellant and Bryant, Bryant drove off, and the blue Dodge followed; shots were fired from the blue Dodge into Bryant's vehicle, killing Johnson. One of the guns used in the shooting was recovered from Appellant's apartment. This evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Appellant contends that the trial court erroneously denied his motion to suppress the photographic-lineup identifications made by Bryant and Rodney Miles. This argument is without merit.

"It is error to allow testimony concerning a pre-trial identification of the defendant if the identification procedure was impermissibly suggestive and, under the totality of the circumstances, the suggestiveness gave rise to a substantial likelihood of misidentification." Miller v. State, 270 Ga. 741, 743, 512 S.E.2d 272 (1999) (citing Neil v. Biggers, 409 U. S. 188

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
814 S.E.2d 682, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jordan-v-state-ga-2018.