Hodges v. State, 302 Ga. 564

Hodges was charged after the March 22, 2013 shooting death of Deputy Khristal Wright; he was convicted of two counts of felony murder (one predicated on armed robbery), armed robbery, and two counts of aggravated assault; acquitted of malice murder.
Hodges initially told family and police that he drove the victim and let her into another vehicle; after cell‑phone records conflicted with that account, he gave a second statement implicating Kelvin Rozier, claiming Rozier forced him at gunpoint to take the victim’s property and then shot her.
Hodges led police to a gun and shell casings, recovered victim property hidden at locations he identified, and his clothing tested positive for gunshot primer residue; Rozier had an alibi supported by cell records.
The State admitted a compiled record of text messages between Hodges and Rozier authenticated by Rozier.
Hodges claimed coercion as his primary defense (based on his statement) but did not testify; the trial court refused a requested jury instruction on coercion.
Hodges moved for new trial alleging juror misconduct and improper juror excusals; he also challenged sentencing. The Court affirmed convictions but vacated an additional 20‑year sentence because an aggravated‑assault count should have merged with armed robbery for sentencing.

Issue	Hodges' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to sustain convictions	Evidence was insufficient to prove Hodges’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (implied challenge)	Evidence (cell records, possession of victim property, primer residue, gun/casings, inconsistent statements) supports conviction	Affirmed — evidence was sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia standard
Admissibility/authentication of compiled text messages	(Implicit) texts should not be admitted or authenticated	Rozier testified and authenticated the compilation; OCGA authentication rules apply to cell‑phone texts	Admission proper — authenticated by witness with knowledge
Denial of requested coercion jury instruction	Trial court erred by refusing coercion charge; Hodges’ custodial statements supported coercion defense	Even if error, the evidence of guilt was compelling and refusal was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt	Affirmed — refusal, if error, was harmless; no reversible error
Sentencing: consecutive 20‑year term for Count 5 (aggravated assault)	Extra 20‑year sentence is improper because Count 5 merges with armed robbery	Trial court sentenced to consecutive term erroneously	Vacated that additional 20‑year sentence; judgment otherwise affirmed

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
Glispie v. State, 335 Ga. App. 177 (authentication of text messages from cell records)
Hamm v. State, 294 Ga. 791 (harmlessness standard for erroneous jury instructions)
Reddick v. State, 301 Ga. 90 (harmless error analysis for refused charge)
Brown v. State, 289 Ga. 259 (failure to give requested charge can be harmless)
Chambers v. State, 321 Ga. App. 512 (juror internet research that was shared with jurors can create presumption of prejudice)
Holcomb v. State, 268 Ga. 100 (due process/juror misconduct analysis)
Duvall v. State, 259 Ga. 801 (harmless error principle)
Young v. State, 290 Ga. 392 (trial court discretion in juror excusal)
Long v. State, 287 Ga. 886 (merger of aggravated assault into armed robbery for sentencing)
Hulett v. State, 296 Ga. 49 (Court may correct sentencing error sua sponte)