Background

• On May 17–18, 2013 appellant Antonio Faust committed crimes against Michael Pippins (May 17) and David McMillan III (May 18); DeKalb County indicted Faust on multiple counts and the court joined the indictments for a single jury trial in August 2015.
• Pippins, a security guard, gave appellant a ride; while driving the two, appellant produced Pippins’ .380 pistol, fired inside the car, robbed and kidnapped Pippins, and exited the vehicle in the Peachcrest area; Pippins later called 911 and identified appellant in a photo lineup.
• McMillan was shot and killed the next day; ballistics matched the bullet and shell casings from McMillan’s scene to the .380 reported stolen from Pippins.
• DeKalb County officers investigated, recovered physical evidence, and the DeKalb records custodian authenticated the 911 call; appellant made inculpatory statements to his probation officer and to police (some later recanted at trial).
• Jury convicted Faust of all counts; he received life for malice murder and lengthy terms on the Pippins-related counts. On appeal appellant’s sole challenge was that the State failed to prove venue beyond a reasonable doubt for the crimes against Pippins.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
• Walton v. State, 293 Ga. 607 (2013) (venue may be proven by circumstantial evidence and is generally a jury question)
• Pruitt v. State, 279 Ga. 140 (2005) (venue proof principles)
• Chapman v. State, 275 Ga. 314 (2002) (public officials presumed to have acted within jurisdiction absent proof otherwise)
• Propst v. State, 299 Ga. 557 (2016) (investigating authority's presence in a county can constitute circumstantial evidence of venue)
• Jones v. State, 272 Ga. 900 (2000) (investigating officers' multi-county jurisdiction may not alone establish venue)