Grant v. State, 298 Ga. 835

On Sept. 27, 2008, Jaferell Grant went to his stepbrother Sonny Milliner's apartment with several armed men to confront John Robinson amid a feud; the assembled group was armed with semi-automatic handguns with laser sights.
Chase Simpson exited his apartment and provoked members of the group with lyrics; Simpson was struck and retreated; Stephen Davis exited to assist Simpson and was shot twice in the back and killed.
Multiple shooters fired; eyewitnesses placed Grant at the scene as an armed participant among the group that menaced the victim.
After the shooting Grant left, warned witnesses (told his stepmother not to know the shooter, warned a witness not to identify anyone), hired an attorney for at least one witness, altered his appearance, and fled to Alabama where he was arrested.
Grant was tried in 2011, acquitted of malice murder but convicted of felony murder (in commission of aggravated assault) and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; sentenced to life plus five years. Motions for directed verdict and for mistrial were denied; appeal to Georgia Supreme Court followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to convict for felony murder and firearm possession	Grant: State lacked motive, physical evidence, and no witness identified him as the shooter so evidence was insufficient under Jackson v. Virginia	State: Eyewitnesses placed Grant at the scene as an armed participant; conduct before, during, after (bringing armed men, leaving hastily, witness tampering, flight) supports inference of shared criminal intent and party liability under OCGA § 16-2-20	Affirmed — evidence sufficient to allow a rational juror to convict (Jackson standard); circumstantial and eyewitness testimony plus conduct supported party liability
Denial of mistrial based on investigator's testimony implying Grant was a drug dealer with guns (improper character evidence)	Grant: Testimony improperly placed bad character/prior criminality before the jury; prejudicial given prior certified conviction and other evidence; mistrial required	State: Testimony was spontaneous, not solicited by State; court gave curative instruction; testimony repeated nothing new given other evidence that Grant had guns and prior conviction	Affirmed — trial court did not abuse discretion; curative instruction adequate and no showing mistrial was necessary to ensure a fair trial

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Smith v. State, 290 Ga. 428 (discusses Jackson standard application in Georgia)
Humphrey v. State, 281 Ga. 596 (motive not required to prove felony murder)
Johnson v. State, 296 Ga. 504 (single witness testimony can suffice; lack of physical corroboration affects weight not sufficiency)
McKibbins v. State, 293 Ga. 843 (mistrial standard; denial reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Bunnell v. State, 292 Ga. 253 (curative instructions can remedy inadvertent testimony about prior bad acts)
Curry v. State, 291 Ga. 446 (spontaneous, unsolicited testimony about defendant's prior acts may be less prejudicial)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (merger and sentencing rules cited regarding verdicts and sentences)