ANTHONY v. THE STATE (Three Cases)
303 Ga. 399
| Ga. | 2018Background
- Early morning June 30, 2013, Joshua Chellew was beaten at a gas station/Mableton Parkway by a group including Johnathan Anthony, Antonio Pass, and Jekari Strozier; Chellew retreated into the road, was left unconscious, then struck by a car and killed.
- Anthony, Pass, and Strozier were tried together, convicted of felony murder (based on criminal gang activity via simple battery), aggravated assault, aggravated battery, affray (all under the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act), and voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of malice murder.
- The trial court sentenced each to life for the felony murder; it merged some counts by operation of law but imposed additional consecutive gang-related sentences on other gang-activity counts.
- On appeal the Court reviewed sufficiency, applicability of Edge (merger with voluntary manslaughter), whether separate gang-activity convictions should merge, and various trial rulings (juror strike, evidentiary rulings, Bruton claim, prior-bad-acts evidence, jury charges, ineffective assistance).
- The Court affirmed the murder convictions, reversed and vacated certain gang-activity convictions: it reversed convictions based on affray and vacated the gang-activity convictions for aggravated assault and aggravated battery as merged into the felony-murder predicate (simple battery).
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for murder and gang-related counts | Pass (and Court sua sponte) argued evidence might be insufficient to sustain convictions | State: video, witness ID, admissions show appellants participated in beating and left Chellew vulnerable; gang association evidence supports Street Gang Act convictions | Evidence sufficient for felony murder (predicated on gang-related simple battery), aggravated assault, aggravated battery convictions; insufficient to support affray conviction |
| Whether Edge requires vacatur of felony murder when voluntary manslaughter also convicted | Appellants: Edge requires conviction and sentence only for voluntary manslaughter when felony murder premised on an underlying assault also found mitigated | State: felony murder here premised on unlawful participation in criminal gang activity (not just simple battery) — involves gang association and nexus beyond ordinary battery | Edge does not apply; felony murder premised on gang activity may stand because gang offenses are qualitatively different from the underlying battery |
| Whether multiple gang-activity convictions based on the same conduct must merge | Appellants: multiple Street Gang Act convictions (affray, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, simple battery) arose from the same continuous beating and therefore must merge | State: Street Gang Act says each violation is a separate offense; multiple predicate crimes can sustain multiple convictions | Convictions for gang-activity based on affray reversed (no affray); convictions for gang-activity via aggravated assault and aggravated battery vacated/merged into the gang-activity conviction based on simple battery because all predicate crimes arose from the same conduct |
| Bruton / testimonial statement and admission of other-acts & juror issues | Pass/Strozier: Anthony’s statement to cellmate implicated co-defendants (Bruton); appellants also challenged admission of prior acts, juror strike, and in-court photo | State: cellmate statement was nontestimonial (so Bruton inapplicable); prior-act evidence admissible under former OCGA § 16-15-9 to prove gang existence; juror struck for cause based on admitted bias; photograph relevant to gang membership | Bruton claim rejected (statement nontestimonial); prior-bad-acts and photo admissible for gang proof; juror removal for cause proper; no reversible error as to these rulings |
Key Cases Cited
- Edge v. State, 261 Ga. 865 (rule limiting concurrent convictions when voluntary manslaughter and felony murder premised on the same aggravated assault)
- Jones v. State, 292 Ga. 656 (gang-activity elements under Street Gang Act)
- Grimes v. State, 293 Ga. 559 (upholding felony murder predicated on gang activity)
- Veal v. State, 298 Ga. 691 (separate-offense provision in Street Gang Act and when multiple convictions permitted)
- Regent v. State, 299 Ga. 172 (merger principles for predicate offenses)
- Lupoe v. State, 300 Ga. 233 (admissibility of other acts under Street Gang Act and plain-error review)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)