DELEON v. State, 289 Ga. 782

Appellant Yonlenon De-Leon fatally shot Servando-Duron Nieto and wounded Almanida Murilla in a Barrow County, Georgia restaurant on April 7, 2006.
A week earlier Nieto and appellant's best friend had a physical altercation; the friend sought appellant's help for revenge.
On the night of the shooting, appellant arrived with a loaded gun; witnesses saw him shoot Nieto and flee; Nieto died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Murilla was an uninvolved patron who was wounded; appellant told his employer and fiancée that he used a firearm owned by the employer; employer testified appellant said he threw the gun away.
Appellant fled the country but was arrested on July 22, 2006 upon returning to Georgia; trial resulted in multiple convictions and sentences for felony murder, reckless conduct, aggravated battery, tampering with evidence, and gun possession.
The Court vacated part of the tampering sentence and remanded for resentencing; other challenges to instructions and charge decisions were addressed, with some errors not requiring reversal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Tampering evidence sufficiency and sentence	De Leon tampering proved; but felony status appropriate?	Tampering may be a misdemeanor since the weapon was discarded by appellant in his own case.	Sufficient for tampering; but felony sentence vacated; remanded for resentencing.
Admission of threats testimony and self-defense	Threats show imminent danger; supports self-defense.	Threats by Nieto from others are not admissible to prove imminent danger.	Testimony not error; did not address ultimate self-defense issue.
Conflation of justification, provocation, and voluntary manslaughter jury charges	Charges conflated and confusing.	Charges accurately stated; not confusing.	Charges were legally accurate and not confusing; no reversible error.
Lack of duty to retreat instruction in self-defense	Court should have sua sponte instructed on no duty to retreat.	Instruction was not required where self-defense fairly presented.	No reversible error; duty to retreat instruction not required here.
Recharged jury on malice murder, felony murder, and voluntary manslaughter	Recharge may have been improper.	No objection made; substantial error not shown.	Waived; no reversible error shown; issue not preserved.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1989) (sufficiency standard for circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt)
White v. State, 287 Ga. 713 (2010) (tipping point for felony vs. misdemeanor tampering in certain contexts)
Baker v. State, 142 Ga. 619 (1914) (third-party opinions on imminent danger are not decisive; relevance of facts)
Edmonds v. State, 275 Ga. 450 (2002) (fair presentation of self-defense; failure to instruct duty to retreat not reversible)
Mitchell v. State, 283 Ga. 341 (2008) (no reversible error when self-defense instruction given and claim fairly presented)
Loadholt v. State, 286 Ga. 402 (2010) (preservation of jury charge issues; substantial error standard for post-2007 cases)
Drinkard v. Walker, 281 Ga. 211 (2006) (required evidence test for merger of convictions)
Patel v. State, 278 Ga. 403 (2004) (transferred justification and justification concepts)
Collins v. State, 283 Ga. App. 188 (2007) (merger analysis for reckless conduct and aggravated battery)