Glass v. State, 289 Ga. 542

Glass was convicted of felony murder, underlying aggravated assault, and weapons offenses after a joint trial.
The underlying aggravated assault was against co-defendant Anderson, not the victim.
Appellate review followed a denied motion for new trial; issues included evidentiary sufficiency, joinder, and procedural challenges.
The verdicts and sentences: life for murder, 20 years concurrent for aggravated assault, and 5 years consecutive for the weapons charge.
The State asserted numerous eyewitnesses supported guilt; the defense challenged identification and potential procedural defects.
The Supreme Court vacated the aggravated assault conviction to merge with the felony murder count, and affirmed other judgments in part.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Glass argues evidence insufficient to prove murder and related felonies.	Glass contends eyewitnesses and destroyed evidence undermine reliability.	Evidence sufficient to sustain murder verdict.
Merger of aggravated assault into felony murder	Underlying aggravated assault should stand alongside felony murder.	Underlying felony can be separately punished.	Agg. assault count vacated; must merge into felony murder.
Joinder/ severance	Joinder allowed efficient trial; severance not required.	Joinder prejudiced Glass; should have been severed.	Record incomplete; no reversal due to lacking transcript; preserved by acquiescence doctrine.
Rule of sequestration and trial counsel	Sequestration rule violations and relief were not properly addressed.	Violations are credibility issues, not grounds for mistrial.	No reversible error; remedy is credibility instruction, which was not requested.
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Counsel failed to confer adequately, subpoena witnesses, or obtain expert eyewitness ID testimony.	No prejudice shown; strategy and record support performance.	No ineffective assistance established; overwhelming eyewitness evidence supports guilt.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1989) (sufficiency review standard)
Wyman v. State, 278 Ga. 339 (2004) (merger principles in felony murder cases)
Granville v. State, 275 Ga. 663 (2002) (evidence sufficiency and duty to review)
Bolston v. State, 282 Ga. 400 (2007) (notice on independent underlying offenses)
Ivory v. State, 199 Ga. App. 283 (1991) (transcript preservation and OCGA procedures)
Turner v. State, 226 Ga. App. 348 (1997) (use of substitutes when transcript missing)
Davis v. State, 158 Ga. App. 549 (1981) (standard for reviewing trial rulings without complete record)
Sears v. State, 270 Ga. 834 (1999) (coercion and delay considerations in jury deliberations)
Johnson v. State, 272 Ga. 254 (2000) (eyewitness identification and expert testimony)