Dorsey v. State, 303 Ga. 597

On April 19, 2013, Shakeim Malcom Dorsey shot and killed Derickes Miles outside an apartment after an earlier domestic altercation between Dorsey and his girlfriend, Iesha Wiggins.
Witnesses testified Dorsey answered the door armed, pointed a .38 revolver at Miles, chased him as Miles fled, and fired multiple shots; Miles was found unarmed and died from a bullet wound to the back.
Dorsey claimed self-defense, testifying he fired two shots at men who he said threatened him and that another man reached for a gun.
Forensics: the recovered .38 bullet traversed the right lung and right atrium; the medical examiner opined trajectory was consistent with being shot in the back while bent forward and that the bullet’s damage was inconsistent with a ricochet off concrete/asphalt.
At trial the jury convicted Dorsey of malice murder and possession of a firearm during a felony; he received life plus five years.
On appeal Dorsey argued (1) insufficiency of the evidence, (2) improper medical-examiner testimony beyond expertise, and (3) improper admission of a witness’s prior consistent statements; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for malice murder and firearm possession	State: eyewitness, trajectory, and ballistics support murder; jury may reject self-defense	Dorsey: conflicting witnesses, possible ricochet, no motive; at most manslaughter or self-defense	Affirmed: viewing evidence for jury, testimony and ballistics support convictions; credibility/conflicts for jury
Medical examiner testifying that bullet not consistent with ricochet on concrete/asphalt	State: question clarifying prior testimony about bullet damage/trajectory	Dorsey: ME exceeded expertise by opining on ricochet consistency	Affirmed: Dorsey elicited ballistics/ricochet testimony on cross, invited the opinion; cannot complain about State’s clarification
Admission of prior consistent statements of witness (David Wiggins)	State: videotaped statement rehabilitates witness after defense suggested fabrication	Dorsey: prior statement did not predate motive to lie and improperly bolsters testimony	Affirmed: cross suggested recent fabrication; videotaped statement predated alleged fabrication and was admissible to rebut attack on credibility
Jury’s rejection of self-defense and alternative lesser offense	State: jury entitled to disbelieve defendant given corroborating eyewitness and forensic evidence	Dorsey: testimony inconsistencies favor self-defense/lesser offense	Affirmed: credibility and justification are jury matters; evidence supports malice murder verdict

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review)
White v. State, 293 Ga. 523 (credibility and evidentiary conflicts left to jury)
Fairclough v. State, 276 Ga. 602 (sufficiency supports murder despite identification/inconsistencies)
Roper v. State, 281 Ga. 878 (jury decides witness credibility and claims of justification)
Adkins v. State, 301 Ga. 153 (defendant cannot complain about evidence he introduced)
Bolling v. State, 300 Ga. 694 (prior consistent statements admissible to rebut charge of recent fabrication)
Mosley v. State, 298 Ga. 849 (same)