Behl v. State, 315 Ga. 814

Victim Joseph Billings and defendant Edward Behl lived in a Chatham County homeless encampment; after Behl was seen touching and kissing a passed-out Billings, tensions rose.
The next day confrontations escalated; after arguing, Behl lured Billings to Behl’s tent and fatally stabbed him in the neck.
A grand jury indicted Behl for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and two weapon counts; at trial the jury acquitted on malice murder but convicted on felony murder and a weapon count; life sentence imposed for felony murder.
At trial Behl (who had elected to proceed pro se shortly before trial) requested voluntary and involuntary manslaughter instructions; the court declined voluntary manslaughter (citing a cooling-off period) but gave self-defense/justification instructions; Behl did not timely object to omission of voluntary manslaughter.
Behl later claimed he was prevented, while incarcerated and self-represented, from reviewing digital discovery (DVDs/CDs) and raised a due-process/access-to-discovery claim in a motion for new trial.
The Supreme Court of Georgia held the court did not plainly err in omitting a voluntary manslaughter charge and that Behl waived his due-process/access-to-discovery claim by failing to timely raise or seek relief before or during trial.

Issue	Behl's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether omission of a voluntary manslaughter instruction was plain error	Requested voluntary manslaughter because heated arguments, prior physical altercations, and alleged identity-based provocation could support passion/provocation	No slight evidence of provocation or passion; words/fighting and fear/self-defense do not compel manslaughter instruction	No plain error; instruction not required on this record
Whether Behl was denied due process by being unable to review digital discovery while incarcerated and pro se	Inability to access DVDs/CDs at jail prevented meaningful preparation and violated due process and self-representation rights	Claim was not timely raised or preserved; discovery had been disclosed earlier and Behl did not request court assistance, continuance, or object at trial	Waived for failure to timely assert or seek relief; court declined to reach the merits

White v. State, 291 Ga. 7 (2012) (plain-error review applies when defendant fails to object to jury charge)
Dugger v. State, 297 Ga. 120 (2015) (slight evidence of serious provocation requires voluntary manslaughter charge)
Smith v. State, 296 Ga. 731 (2015) (fear of violence or fighting alone does not demand voluntary manslaughter instruction)
Hudson v. State, 308 Ga. 443 (2020) (insulting words alone do not reduce murder to manslaughter)
Collins v. State, 312 Ga. 727 (2021) (must show accused reacted passionately rather than in self-defense to warrant voluntary manslaughter charge)
Davis v. State, 312 Ga. 870 (2021) (error is not plain where no controlling authority requires reversal)
Morris v. State, 303 Ga. 192 (2018) (elements of plain-error standard explained)
Benton v. State, 300 Ga. 202 (2016) (constitutional rights may be forfeited by failure to timely assert them)
Scudder v. State, 298 Ga. 438 (2016) (waiver of due-process claim where defendant failed to object or timely raise issue)
Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343 (1996) (meaningful access to courts requires reasonable opportunity but not a specific methodology)
Gibson v. Turpin, 270 Ga. 855 (1999) (meaningful access standard for inmates; does not require state to litigate for inmates)
State v. Dickerson, 273 Ga. 408 (2001) (defendant must request continuance to cure prejudice from discovery defects)