Henry v. State, 307 Ga. 140

On July 10, 2015, Tyron Henry and two companions encountered Michael Johnson after Johnson aggressively followed, honked at, nearly struck them with his car, and allegedly tried to run one companion off the road; Johnson then exited his vehicle after reaching into his console.
Witnesses (Jamonie “Jay” Williams and Nikki Miller) testified that they feared violence; Williams testified Henry removed a pistol from his backpack and there were immediate gunshots; Miller later heard Henry say he thought he had killed someone.
Medical evidence showed Johnson had a .147 BAC and cocaine in his system; two gunshot wounds (chest and head) were fatal.
A jury acquitted Henry of malice murder but convicted him of felony murder and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony; Henry received life plus a consecutive 5-year sentence.
At trial Henry did not testify; the trial court refused to give Henry’s requested jury instructions on justification (self-defense/defense of others) and limited defense counsel’s argument—ruling that Henry’s failure to testify amounted to abandonment of those affirmative defenses.
On appeal (after this Court’s decision in McClure), the Supreme Court of Georgia held the trial court erred in refusing the requested instructions and that the error was not harmless; convictions were reversed and retrial was permitted.

Issue	State's Argument	Henry's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing to give requested jury instructions on justification (self-defense/defense of others)	No instruction warranted because Henry did not testify and, the State contended, there was no slight evidence supporting justification	Witness testimony and victim’s intoxication/aggressive conduct supplied slight evidence supporting justification charges	Error to refuse instructions; McClure requires only slight evidence to authorize such charges; remanded/reversed
Whether a defendant must “admit” commission of the charged act to raise an affirmative defense	The defendant must effectively admit the underlying act to obtain the instruction (position adopted by Court of Appeals in related case)	No formal admission required; a defendant may accept for argument that he committed the act solely to assert the affirmative defense; inconsistent defenses allowed	McClure rejected a blanket admission requirement; limited acceptance of the act for the defense is sufficient
Whether the instructional and argument restrictions were harmless error	Convictions supported by the evidence; any instructional omission was harmless	Error was prejudicial because Henry’s counsel was barred from arguing justification and the jury lacked guidance on an evident defense	Not harmless: cannot say it was highly probable the error did not contribute to verdicts; reversal allowed; State may retry

McClure v. State, 306 Ga. 857 (Georgia Supreme Court 2019) (defendant need not admit underlying crime to raise affirmative defense; slight evidence suffices to authorize instruction)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
Shah v. State, 300 Ga. 14 (2016) (test for nonconstitutional harmless error: highly probable that error did not contribute to verdict)
Thompson v. State, 302 Ga. 533 (2017) (harmless-error review assesses evidence from reasonable jurors’ viewpoint)
Chase v. State, 277 Ga. 636 (2003) (jury instructions are the guide for jurors in applying law to testimony)
Johnson v. State, 302 Ga. 188 (2017) (retrial permitted where convictions reversed but evidence was sufficient)