Brown v. State, 291 Ga. 892

Brown was convicted of malice murder and armed robbery for the killing of Lovelace in Gwinnett County on August 27, 2008; appellant challenged sufficiency of evidence, admission of certain trial testimony and notes, and trial counsel’s effectiveness following denial of his motion for new trial; the State’s case tied Brown to the crime as a drug deal middleman with a fatal outcome after a deal fell apart; multiple witnesses, phone records, and a note bearing Brown’s nickname connected him to the events; Lovelace’s cash withdrawal proceeds and a gun-related incident occurred in close temporal proximity to the shooting; the note found at Lovelace’s apartment and Dixon’s testimony about Lovelace’s statements linked Brown to the planned meeting at the hotel; Brown rejected a plea offer discussed by his counsel; the court affirmed the convictions after applying Jackson v. Virginia and related standards.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence for malice murder and armed robbery	Brown contends the evidence does not support guilt for malice murder and that there was no evidence of robbery.	State asserts the circumstantial and direct evidence collectively establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.	Evidence sufficient for both malice murder and armed robbery.
Admission of Dixon’s statements as hearsay under necessity exception	Statements lacked sufficient indicia of reliability given Dixon-Lovelace friendship.	Totality of circumstances supports trustworthiness; statements necessary as decedent was unavailable.	No abuse of discretion; statements admissible under necessity.
Admission of the note found in Lovelace’s home	Note’s reliability insufficient to show authorship and implicate Lovelace.	Note admissible as original documentary evidence; weight for jury to assess authorship.	Note admissible; issue for weight, not admissibility.
Ineffective assistance of trial counsel regarding plea offer	Counsel failed to communicate a plea offer and advise Brown.	Counsel discussed informal offer; Brown rejected it and decision analyzed under Strickland.	Brown failed to prove deficient performance or prejudice under Strickland.

Whitaker v. State, 291 Ga. 139 (2012) (review of conflicts in evidence; defer to jury on credibility)
Farris v. State, 290 Ga. 323 (2012) (standard for weighing circumstantial evidence and reasonable hypotheses)
Abston v. State, 291 Ga. 531 (2012) (circumstantial evidence must exclude reasonable hypotheses other than guilt)
Brooks v. State, 281 Ga. 514 (2007) (circumstantial-evidence sufficiency standard; reasonable hypothesis ruling)
Perkins v. State, 269 Ga. 791 (1998) (trustworthiness of statements in necessity-based hearsay)