Agee v. State, 311 Ga. 340

December 7, 1997: a shooting at Club Escape killed Steven Lowe and wounded Monitaaz Simmons; Lowe had earlier fired warning shots during a fight involving Agee’s group.
Agee attended with a distinctive two-toned older Oldsmobile; witnesses observed a similarly described car leaving rapidly and the car was later found hidden at Agee’s mother’s house.
Two members of Agee’s group (Tobias Mathews and Derrick Byrd) gave written statements to police identifying Agee as the shooter; both later recanted at trial.
Agee was tried in a bench trial, convicted of malice murder and related charges, and sentenced to life plus consecutive terms; remaining counts merged or were vacated.
On appeal Agee argued (1) evidence was insufficient because the eyewitnesses recanted and (2) his waiver of a jury trial was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.

Issue	Agee's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to support convictions	Mathews and Byrd recanted at trial, so only circumstantial evidence places Agee at the club; statements should not support conviction	Prior written statements identifying Agee and corroborating facts (vehicle, threats, admissions he was angry) were admissible and sufficient when viewed in favor of the verdict	Evidence (including prior inconsistent written statements and corroborating facts) was sufficient for a rational factfinder to convict under Jackson v. Virginia
Validity of jury-trial waiver	Waiver was not knowing/voluntary; court should have asked about education, mental status, or provided other safeguards	Colloquy on the record shows Agee personally acknowledged and waived the right after consulting counsel; no extra safeguards are categorically required	Waiver was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made; trial court did not clearly err

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 304 (1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence; view evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution)
Wimberly v. State, 302 Ga. 321 (2017) (appellate courts do not reweigh testimony or credibility on sufficiency review)
Bullard v. State, 307 Ga. 482 (2019) (prior inconsistent statements admissible as substantive evidence)
Robbins v. State, 300 Ga. 387 (2017) (treats prior inconsistent statements as substantive evidence when witness is cross-examined)
Watson v. State, 274 Ga. 689 (2002) (trial court should ask sufficient on-the-record questions to ensure a knowing, voluntary bench-trial waiver)
Balbosa v. State, 275 Ga. 574 (2002) (State must prove waiver of jury trial beyond a reasonable doubt)
Johnson v. Smith, 280 Ga. 235 (2006) (court may supplement the record with extrinsic evidence to show a valid waiver)
Lyman v. State, 301 Ga. 312 (2017) (review of trial court’s acceptance of a constitutional-right waiver is for clear error)
Brown v. State, 277 Ga. 573 (2004) (oral assurance after being informed of the right can suffice for a valid waiver)