Bozzie v. State, 302 Ga. 704

Background

On June 10, 2013, Frank Scott Bozzie confronted Richard Morgan after a dispute involving Jennifer Verner; Bozzie struck Morgan with his truck and dragged him ~32 feet, causing Morgan’s death by asphyxiation. Bozzie also assaulted others and damaged property earlier the same day.
A Whitfield County grand jury indicted Bozzie for malice murder, two counts of felony murder, multiple aggravated assaults, and related offenses; a jury convicted him on malice murder and most other counts; he received life without parole plus additional sentences.
At trial eyewitnesses described Bozzie revving his truck, chasing Morgan, hitting and dragging him; Bozzie testified he lost control of the truck. The jury rejected his account.
On appeal Bozzie challenged sufficiency of evidence for malice murder, admission of an in-life photo and multiple postmortem photos, admission of certain hearsay, alleged juror misconduct, multiple ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims, and denial of his presence at the motion-for-new-trial hearing.
The trial court denied the motion for new trial; the Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record, applying Jackson v. Virginia sufficiency review and plain-error review for unpreserved evidentiary claims.

Issues

Issue	Bozzie’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for malice murder	No proof of intent to kill; truck collision accidental	Evidence showed intent or implied malice: revving, chasing, hitting, dragging Morgan	Evidence sufficient; conviction affirmed (intent may be implied where conduct substantially certain to cause death)
Admission of in-life and postmortem photographs	In-life photo prejudicial and cumulative; postmortem photos unduly inflammatory	Photos relevant to identity, manner of death; one in-life photo not cumulative error; crime-scene/autopsy photos admissible	No plain error; even if in-life photo improper, harmless given strong evidence; postmortem photos admissible
Admission of hearsay statements (Verner/detective testimony)	Statements inadmissible hearsay	Statements cumulative of trial testimony; any error harmless	No plain error; admission harmless or cumulative
Alleged juror misconduct (juror spoke to witness’s girlfriend)	Court failed to investigate; presumption of prejudice	Investigator stopped contact; trial counsel declined further action; counsel elected not to pursue	No relief — defendant cannot complain where counsel chose not to investigate; no shown prejudice
Ineffective assistance — various (exposing prior convictions, failure to object, failing to pursue juror issue, not confronting witness, not cross-examining certain witnesses)	Counsel deficient in multiple tactical choices, causing prejudice	Counsel’s choices were reasonable strategy; overwhelming evidence prevented prejudice	Strickland test not met: counsel’s performance not shown objectively deficient or, in any event, no prejudice given strong evidence of guilt
Right to be present at motion-for-new-trial hearing	Due process required presence so Bozzie could testify, authenticate letter, explain counsel consultations	No unqualified right; counsel and court could proffer testimony and State stipulated to letter; issues could be resolved without defendant present	No due-process violation; trial court did not abuse discretion in denying presence

Key Cases Cited

Kitchen v. State, 287 Ga. 833 (malice murder defined: express or implied intent)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review)
Ragan v. State, 299 Ga. 828 (prejudicial effect of in-life victim photographs)
Brannon v. State, 266 Ga. 667 (jury credibility determinations; rejecting defendant testimony)
Lupoe v. State, 300 Ga. 233 (plain-error test for unpreserved evidentiary issues)
United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725 (plain-error and harmless-error framework)
Shaw v. State, 292 Ga. 871 (defendant burden to show plain error affected outcome)
Toomer v. State, 292 Ga. 49 (ineffective assistance prejudice analysis where guilt evidence strong)