Brockman v. State, 292 Ga. 707

Brockman was convicted by a Muscogee County jury of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, with a death sentence recommended for the murder during the commission of another capital felony.
The State proved that Brockman and accomplices planned armed robberies to raise bond money, used a .38 revolver and a sawed-off shotgun, and targeted Billy Lynn at a gas station.
Brockman shot Lynn during the attempted armed robbery, fled, and was later apprehended after a high-speed chase; fingerprints and an itinerary were found tying him to the offenses.
The State presented evidence of three similar armed robberies in June 1990, two of which occurred within 48 hours of the Lynn incident.
The trial court sentenced Brockman consistent with the jury’s death recommendation, and Brockman sought post-trial relief arguing, among other things, delay in transcript filing and evidentiary issues; the conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal.
The record later disclosed delays in post-conviction review and the court reaffirmed the admissibility of videotaped statements and other evidence, while addressing numerous trial- and sentencing-phase challenges on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the (b)(2) aggravating finding	Brockman argues evidence failed to show he was engaged in armed robbery at murder	State contends (b)(2) does not require completed robbery, only engagement	Sufficient evidence supported (b)(2) finding
Trial court's discretion on new trial motion	Court failed to exercise discretion under OCGA 5-5-20/21	Adoption of State’s proposed order shows proper discretion	No reversible error; court properly weighed discretionary grounds
Voir dire and juror selection	Challenged jurors should have been excused due to death-penalty views or potential bias	Court properly determined jurors were qualified or could be rehabilitated	No reversible error; voir dire conducted within broad discretion
Wrongful jury instruction on intent for felony murder	Evidence implied intent to kill; instruction erroneous	Felony murder does not require intent to kill; instruction harmless	Instruction deemed erroneous but harmless given felony-murder conviction and aggravation context

Amadeo v. State, 243 Ga. 627 ((1979)) (relevance of substantial step in attempts and aggravation)
Roberts v. State, 252 Ga. 227 ((1984)) (statutory aggravating distinct from completed felony)
Tate v. State, 287 Ga. 364 ((2010)) (murder during attempt can support aggravating (b)(2) even if the felony not completed)
Woodall v. State, 235 Ga. 525 ((1975)) (essential elements of armed robbery and related offenses)
Henry Hooks v. State, 233 Ga. 149 ((1974)) (administrative guidance on aggravating circumstances)
Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 ((1982)) (death penalty proportionality under felony murder)
Spivey v. State, 253 Ga. 187 ((1984)) (death penalty reactions and proportionality review)