313 Ga. 841 FINAL COPY
S22A0171. JORDAN v. THE STATE.
COLVIN, Justice.
Orlando Jordan appeals his conviction for malice murder
arising out of the 2014 shooting death of Antoniyo Wiggins.1 On
appeal, Jordan claims that the evidence was insufficient to support
his conviction and that the trial court improperly admitted certain
evidence at trial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
1. Jordan alleges that the evidence presented at trial was
1 The crime occurred on March 22, 2014. On September 20, 2019, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Jordan on charges of malice murder (Count 1), felony murder predicated on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (Count 2), and two counts of felony murder predicated on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Counts 3 and 4). At a jury trial held from February 18 to 25, 2020, the jury found Jordan guilty of all four counts. The trial court sentenced Jordan to serve a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole for Count 1, and the remaining counts were vacated by operation of law. See Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369, 372-373 (5) (434 SE2d 479) (1993). On February 27, 2020, Jordan filed a motion for new trial, which he amended on September 4, October 26, and November 6, 2020. The trial court conducted a hearing on the amended motion for new trial on November 10, 2020. The trial court denied Jordan’s motion for new trial on August 25, 2021. The case was docketed to this Court’s term beginning in December 2021 and submitted for a decision on the briefs. constitutionally insufficient to support his conviction for malice
murder. When evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence as a matter
of constitutional due process, the proper standard of review is
whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307,
319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court views
the evidence in the “light most favorable to the verdict, with
deference to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of
the evidence.” Hayes v. State, 292 Ga. 506, 506 (739 SE2d 313)
(2013) (citation and punctuation omitted). The jury’s resolution of
these issues “adversely to the defendant does not render the
evidence insufficient.” Graham v. State, 301 Ga. 675, 677 (1) (804
SE2d 113) (2017) (citation and punctuation omitted).
Viewed in this light, the evidence presented at trial showed
that, at all relevant times, Jordan and Wiggins lived in neighboring
apartments in the same complex in Atlanta. Wiggins shared an
apartment with his wife; his sister, Angela; and Mario Jones,
Angela’s boyfriend. Jones and Jordan were friendly and spent time
2 together working on Jordan’s car and dirt bikes. In February or
March 2014, Wiggins expressed an interest in one of Jordan’s dirt
bikes and, shortly thereafter, one of Jordan’s dirt bikes was stolen
by a prospective buyer during a test drive.
On the morning of March 22, 2014, Wiggins got into a fight
with Jones, which led to the police being called to the residence.
Jones and Angela left before the police arrived and walked to
Jordan’s apartment. The police responded to the domestic dispute
call and spoke with Wiggins, after which Wiggins left the apartment
complex on foot between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., heading in the direction
of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Jordan, Jones, and Angela all left
Jordan’s apartment. Jones and Angela returned to Wiggins’
apartment, and Jordan got into his car and drove out of the complex.
At approximately 7:00 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy stopped at a
traffic light near 2950 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and heard
gunshots coming from the nearby railroad tracks. The deputy saw
muzzle flashes through the bushes. He then saw Wiggins run across
the road and fall to the ground as more shots were fired. The deputy
3 approached Wiggins and could not find a pulse. There was a 7.62-
caliber shell casing near Wiggins’ body and additional shell casings
on a dirt path near the railroad tracks. In all, the police collected 24
7.62-caliber shell casings, nine of which were Wolf brand casings.
The recovered shell casings and projectiles were sent to the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation for analysis. A firearms expert determined
that all 24 bullets were fired from either an SKS or AK-47 rifle and
that all bullets were fired from the same weapon. An autopsy
revealed that Wiggins died after sustaining 15 gunshot wounds. The
forensic pathologist opined at trial that Wiggins’ wounds were
caused by a high-velocity rifle.
While investigating the crime scene, police located a 1999
Mitsubishi Diamante parked in the lot of a nearby apartment
complex. Despite the cold weather, the car was still warm to the
touch. The car had a “for sale” sign in the window that identified
the owner as “Orlando” and provided a phone number that was later
traced to Jordan. The police later confirmed that the car was
registered to Jordan. A witness told police that she observed two
4 men exit the Mitsubishi after parking it that morning. One of the
men carried a rifle as he headed toward the railroad tracks. The
witness heard approximately 25 gunshots and then saw one man
run back to the car with “a big, long gun,” which he threw under the
parked car before running from the scene. Three witnesses testified
that they had seen Jordan with a large gun in his possession prior
to the murder, and one witness specifically identified the weapon as
an AK-47. The murder weapon was not recovered, and Jones
testified that, on the day after the murder, Jordan came to see him
while holding a long gun and bragged “they didn’t get my gun.”
Police obtained a video surveillance recording from Jordan’s
apartment complex showing his car driving out of the complex
shortly before the murder. A video surveillance recording from the
apartment complex near the murder also showed Jordan’s car
entering the apartment’s parking lot at 6:48 a.m., about ten minutes
before the shooting. Cell phone records showed that Jordan’s phone
was in close proximity to the crime scene at the time of the shooting.
After the shooting, Jordan showed up at a friend’s house and
5 appeared panicked. Jordan admitted to the friend that he had just
confronted and shot a man near the railroad tracks along Martin
Luther King, Jr. Drive because he believed the man had stolen a dirt
bike from him. Jordan then asked his friend to temporarily hide a
“large gun” for him in her home, which Jordan returned later that
day to retrieve.
Finally, the State presented evidence that, four months prior
to the murder, a police officer’s apartment was burglarized wherein
the intruders stole an AK-47 and multiple containers of
ammunition, including nine Wolf brand 7.62-caliber cartridges. The
parties further stipulated that Jordan was a convicted felon at the
time of Wiggins’ murder.
Jordan argues that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of
law because the State presented no direct or circumstantial evidence
of his involvement in the murder and, thus, failed to prove his guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree. When viewed in the light
most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial,
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313 Ga. 841 FINAL COPY
S22A0171. JORDAN v. THE STATE.
COLVIN, Justice.
Orlando Jordan appeals his conviction for malice murder
arising out of the 2014 shooting death of Antoniyo Wiggins.1 On
appeal, Jordan claims that the evidence was insufficient to support
his conviction and that the trial court improperly admitted certain
evidence at trial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
1. Jordan alleges that the evidence presented at trial was
1 The crime occurred on March 22, 2014. On September 20, 2019, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Jordan on charges of malice murder (Count 1), felony murder predicated on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (Count 2), and two counts of felony murder predicated on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Counts 3 and 4). At a jury trial held from February 18 to 25, 2020, the jury found Jordan guilty of all four counts. The trial court sentenced Jordan to serve a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole for Count 1, and the remaining counts were vacated by operation of law. See Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369, 372-373 (5) (434 SE2d 479) (1993). On February 27, 2020, Jordan filed a motion for new trial, which he amended on September 4, October 26, and November 6, 2020. The trial court conducted a hearing on the amended motion for new trial on November 10, 2020. The trial court denied Jordan’s motion for new trial on August 25, 2021. The case was docketed to this Court’s term beginning in December 2021 and submitted for a decision on the briefs. constitutionally insufficient to support his conviction for malice
murder. When evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence as a matter
of constitutional due process, the proper standard of review is
whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307,
319 (III) (B) (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). This Court views
the evidence in the “light most favorable to the verdict, with
deference to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of
the evidence.” Hayes v. State, 292 Ga. 506, 506 (739 SE2d 313)
(2013) (citation and punctuation omitted). The jury’s resolution of
these issues “adversely to the defendant does not render the
evidence insufficient.” Graham v. State, 301 Ga. 675, 677 (1) (804
SE2d 113) (2017) (citation and punctuation omitted).
Viewed in this light, the evidence presented at trial showed
that, at all relevant times, Jordan and Wiggins lived in neighboring
apartments in the same complex in Atlanta. Wiggins shared an
apartment with his wife; his sister, Angela; and Mario Jones,
Angela’s boyfriend. Jones and Jordan were friendly and spent time
2 together working on Jordan’s car and dirt bikes. In February or
March 2014, Wiggins expressed an interest in one of Jordan’s dirt
bikes and, shortly thereafter, one of Jordan’s dirt bikes was stolen
by a prospective buyer during a test drive.
On the morning of March 22, 2014, Wiggins got into a fight
with Jones, which led to the police being called to the residence.
Jones and Angela left before the police arrived and walked to
Jordan’s apartment. The police responded to the domestic dispute
call and spoke with Wiggins, after which Wiggins left the apartment
complex on foot between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., heading in the direction
of Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive. Jordan, Jones, and Angela all left
Jordan’s apartment. Jones and Angela returned to Wiggins’
apartment, and Jordan got into his car and drove out of the complex.
At approximately 7:00 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy stopped at a
traffic light near 2950 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and heard
gunshots coming from the nearby railroad tracks. The deputy saw
muzzle flashes through the bushes. He then saw Wiggins run across
the road and fall to the ground as more shots were fired. The deputy
3 approached Wiggins and could not find a pulse. There was a 7.62-
caliber shell casing near Wiggins’ body and additional shell casings
on a dirt path near the railroad tracks. In all, the police collected 24
7.62-caliber shell casings, nine of which were Wolf brand casings.
The recovered shell casings and projectiles were sent to the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation for analysis. A firearms expert determined
that all 24 bullets were fired from either an SKS or AK-47 rifle and
that all bullets were fired from the same weapon. An autopsy
revealed that Wiggins died after sustaining 15 gunshot wounds. The
forensic pathologist opined at trial that Wiggins’ wounds were
caused by a high-velocity rifle.
While investigating the crime scene, police located a 1999
Mitsubishi Diamante parked in the lot of a nearby apartment
complex. Despite the cold weather, the car was still warm to the
touch. The car had a “for sale” sign in the window that identified
the owner as “Orlando” and provided a phone number that was later
traced to Jordan. The police later confirmed that the car was
registered to Jordan. A witness told police that she observed two
4 men exit the Mitsubishi after parking it that morning. One of the
men carried a rifle as he headed toward the railroad tracks. The
witness heard approximately 25 gunshots and then saw one man
run back to the car with “a big, long gun,” which he threw under the
parked car before running from the scene. Three witnesses testified
that they had seen Jordan with a large gun in his possession prior
to the murder, and one witness specifically identified the weapon as
an AK-47. The murder weapon was not recovered, and Jones
testified that, on the day after the murder, Jordan came to see him
while holding a long gun and bragged “they didn’t get my gun.”
Police obtained a video surveillance recording from Jordan’s
apartment complex showing his car driving out of the complex
shortly before the murder. A video surveillance recording from the
apartment complex near the murder also showed Jordan’s car
entering the apartment’s parking lot at 6:48 a.m., about ten minutes
before the shooting. Cell phone records showed that Jordan’s phone
was in close proximity to the crime scene at the time of the shooting.
After the shooting, Jordan showed up at a friend’s house and
5 appeared panicked. Jordan admitted to the friend that he had just
confronted and shot a man near the railroad tracks along Martin
Luther King, Jr. Drive because he believed the man had stolen a dirt
bike from him. Jordan then asked his friend to temporarily hide a
“large gun” for him in her home, which Jordan returned later that
day to retrieve.
Finally, the State presented evidence that, four months prior
to the murder, a police officer’s apartment was burglarized wherein
the intruders stole an AK-47 and multiple containers of
ammunition, including nine Wolf brand 7.62-caliber cartridges. The
parties further stipulated that Jordan was a convicted felon at the
time of Wiggins’ murder.
Jordan argues that the evidence was insufficient as a matter of
law because the State presented no direct or circumstantial evidence
of his involvement in the murder and, thus, failed to prove his guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree. When viewed in the light
most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial,
particularly the evidence that Wiggins was shot 15 times while
6 running away, was sufficient as a matter of constitutional due
process to authorize a rational jury to find Jordan guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt of the malice murder of Wiggins. See OCGA § 16-
5-1 (a) (defining “malice murder”); Watkins v. State, 278 Ga. 414, 414
(1) (603 SE2d 222) (2004) (concluding there was sufficient evidence
to support a malice murder conviction where the victim was killed
by multiple gunshot wounds while running away).2
2. Jordan argues that the trial court abused its discretion by
admitting testimony regarding the dirt bike stolen from Jordan
prior to the murder, and testimony and physical evidence related to
the burglary of the police officer’s apartment that occurred prior to
the shooting. “Decisions regarding [the relevance of evidence] are
committed to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Smith v. State,
299 Ga. 424, 429 (2) (b) (788 SE2d 433) (2016). Evidence is relevant
2 Jordan also argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it
declined to grant a new trial pursuant to the general grounds set forth in OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21. “However, our review of a trial court’s denial on the general grounds is limited to review of the sufficiency of the evidence under Jackson.” Poole v. State, 312 Ga. 515, 520 n.3 (863 SE2d 93) (2021). For the reasons discussed above, the evidence was sufficient to support Jordan’s conviction. 7 if it “[has] any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of
consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less
probable than it would be without the evidence.” OCGA § 24-4-401.
“The standard for relevant evidence is a liberal one, and such
evidence is generally admissible even if it has only slight probative
value.” McClain v. State, 303 Ga. 6, 10 (3) (810 SE2d 77) (2018)
(punctuation omitted). “Relevant evidence still may be excluded if
‘its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of
unfair prejudice.’” Id. (quoting OCGA § 24-4-403 (“Rule 403”)). A
“trial court’s discretion to exclude evidence under Rule 403 is an
extraordinary remedy which should be used only sparingly,” because
the “major function of Rule 403 is to exclude matter[s] of scant or
cumulative probative force, dragged in by the heels for the sake of
its prejudicial effect.” Hood v. State, 299 Ga. 95, 102-103 (4) (786
SE2d 648) (2016) (citations and punctuation omitted). With these
principles in mind, we review Jordan’s claims.
(a) The dirt bike testimony.
During the State’s case-in-chief, the prosecutor elicited
8 testimony from four separate witnesses whose combined testimony
established that, prior to the murder, Jordan owned multiple dirt
bikes, Wiggins had expressed an interest in purchasing one of the
dirt bikes, and one of Jordan’s dirt bikes was stolen by a prospective
buyer during a test drive. Jordan objected to the testimony of these
witnesses, alleging that the theft of one of his dirt bikes was
irrelevant. The trial court found this testimony was relevant and
admissible because it tended to show Jordan’s motive for the
shooting. Jordan alleges that this was error.
“Though motive is not an essential element of any offense,
evidence of motive is generally relevant in murder prosecutions.”
Calhoun v. State, 308 Ga. 146, 153 (2) (c) (iii) (839 SE2d 612) (2020).
Here, Jordan’s potential motive for shooting Wiggins was relevant
and particularly probative, given that only a matter of weeks had
passed between the bike being stolen and Wiggins’ murder, and the
evidence that Jordan admitted shooting someone he believed had
stolen one of his dirt bikes. Based on the foregoing, the probative
value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by any
9 alleged unfair prejudice. Therefore, the trial court did not abuse its
discretion in admitting this testimony at trial.3
(b) The burglary evidence.
Before trial, Jordan filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude
evidence, namely a rifle and shell casings stolen from a police
officer’s apartment, which, the State alleged, were used in Wiggins’
murder. Jordan argued, in part,4 that the evidence should be
excluded on relevance grounds. The State proffered evidence that
the AK-47 and ammunition stolen from Officer Jerome Jones’
apartment were relevant because Jordan had been seen in
possession of an AK-47 prior to the murder and an AK-47 was the
possible murder weapon in this case. Additionally, the stolen
ammunition had ballistic similarities to the shell casings recovered
from the crime scene. The court found that the evidence was
3 In his brief, in addition to making the relevance and Rule 403 arguments discussed above, Jordan cites to OCGA § 24-4-404, but does not make any legal or factual argument in support of this citation. 4 As with the previous enumeration, in his brief, Jordan also cites to
OCGA § 24-4-404 but does not make any legal or factual argument in support of this citation. Jordan also raised a discovery issue in his motion in limine, but that issue is not raised on appeal. 10 relevant and denied the motion.
At trial, Officer Jones testified that an AK-47 and multiple
cans of 7.62-caliber ammunition were stolen during a burglary of his
apartment on November 14, 2013. Officer Jones also testified that
Ralph Williams, Jordan’s known associate, was Officer Jones’
neighbor at the time his apartment was burglarized. The State also
called Detective Kevin Leonpacher, who testified that he compared
the 24 7.62-caliber shell casings from the crime scene with the 7.62-
caliber ammunition stolen from Officer Jones’ apartment, and that
nine of the casings found were the same brand (Wolf) as those stolen
in the burglary. Nine 7.62-caliber Wolf cartridges were missing
from an ammunition box that was opened during the burglary of
Officer Jones’ apartment. The State introduced five photographs of
the empty boxes of ammunition from the burglary at trial, and
Jordan objected to the photographs as hearsay and renewed his
relevance and prejudice objections. The trial court overruled both
objections, which Jordan alleges was error. We disagree.
Regarding the hearsay objection, hearsay “means a statement,
11 other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial . .
. offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.”
OCGA § 24-8-801 (c). For hearsay purposes, a “statement” is either
an “oral or written assertion[ ] or . . . [n]onverbal conduct of a
person.” OCGA § 24-8-801 (a). The admission of the physical
evidence here did not fit the definition of hearsay.
Further, the introduction of the burglary evidence was relevant
and probative. The weapon and ammunition were stolen just four
months prior to the murder, they were the same caliber used in
Wiggins’ murder, the exact number of Wolf brand cartridges stolen
were found at the murder scene, and Jordan’s known associate lived
next door to where the burglary occurred. Because the evidence
provided a connection between the items stolen during the burglary
with the potential murder weapon, and the probative value of that
evidence was not substantially outweighed by any unfair prejudicial
effect, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting this
evidence at trial.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
12 Decided June 1, 2022.
Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Ellerbe.
Kenneth W. Sheppard, for appellant.
Fani T. Willis, District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder, Ruth M.
Pawlak, Assistant District Attorneys; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney
General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General,
Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Michael A.
Oldham, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.