Hogan v. State
308 Ga. 155
| Ga. | 2020Background
- On July 3, 2014, Kilon Williams was shot and killed near Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta; Nicholas Gibson (Williams’s friend) was robbed at gunpoint and threatened to strip to his underwear.
- Gibson identified the driver as Fernando Hogan and the armed shooter as Lamontez Hinton; phone evidence and calls to Hogan’s cousin tied Hogan to the stolen phone and to statements that a shooting had occurred.
- Fulton County indicted Hogan and Hinton for multiple counts including malice and felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assaults, and firearm offenses; jury found Hogan guilty of felony murder (based on felon-in-possession), armed robbery, aggravated assault of Gibson, and related counts; Hogan acquitted of malice murder.
- Trial court sentenced Hogan to life for felony murder (possession predicate) plus concurrent terms; Hogan moved for new trial and appealed.
- During jury selection the State objected under Georgia v. McCollum to multiple defense peremptory strikes (all against white venirepersons); the trial court rejected three of Hogan’s strikes (Jurors 11, 22, 29) as pretextual and reseated them.
- On appeal the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions except it vacated the aggravated assault conviction of Gibson (Count 6) and its concurrent 20-year sentence because that offense merged with the armed robbery conviction (Count 4).
Issues
| Issue | Hogan's Argument | State's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the evidence was sufficient to support convictions | Hogan did not contest sufficiency | Evidence (identification, phone calls, admissions) was sufficient | Affirmed — evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia |
| Whether the trial court conflated steps 2 and 3 of McCollum (Batson framework) for Juror 11 by assessing pretext before hearing State | Trial court accepted strike as facially race-neutral then improperly moved to step three without letting State respond | State argued court did conduct full three-step inquiry and heard prosecutor before ruling | Court held no error — viewing colloquy as whole, court conducted step two and then step three and considered prosecutor’s response |
| Whether the trial court clearly erred in finding discriminatory intent re: Jurors 11, 22, 29 and reseating them | Strikes were race-neutral (residence, hardship, prior jury service, trauma to family) and not pretextual | Statistical use of strikes (all against white jurors), counsel’s statements (Alpharetta = white community), lack of voir dire, and comparisons to similarly situated non‑struck jurors showed pretext | Court held trial court did not clearly err; reseating was proper |
| Whether Hogan’s aggravated assault conviction of Gibson should merge with armed robbery | Hogan argued merger required because assault arose from same transaction as robbery | State opposed merger or argued other counts merged differently | Court vacated aggravated assault conviction and concurrent 20‑year sentence as it merged with armed robbery |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
- McCollum v. Georgia, 505 U.S. 42 (1992) (extension of Batson to defendant’s peremptory challenges)
- Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986) (forbids purposeful racial discrimination in peremptory strikes)
- Flowers v. Mississippi, 139 S. Ct. 2228 (2019) (court may consider statistics, disparate questioning, and side‑by‑side juror comparisons in Batson analysis)
- Snyder v. Louisiana, 552 U.S. 472 (2008) (pretext inquiry at third Batson step)
- Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322 (2003) (demeanor and credibility in assessing peremptory challenges)
- Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352 (1991) (credibility and demeanor relevant to Batson inquiry)
- DuBose v. State, 299 Ga. 652 (2016) (sentencing merger principles referenced)
- Allen v. State, 280 Ga. 678 (2006) (McCollum/Batson three-step framework and burden allocation)
- Edwards v. State, 301 Ga. 822 (2017) (trial court deference and burden of persuasion stays with State)
- Dunn v. State, 304 Ga. 647 (2018) (review standard for McCollum rulings)
- Rose v. State, 287 Ga. 238 (2010) (prima facie showing where strikes focus on one race)
- Toomer v. State, 292 Ga. 49 (2012) (race-neutral reasons may nonetheless be found pretextual at step three)
- Wainwright v. State, 305 Ga. 63 (2019) (merger principles applied)
- Bradley v. State, 292 Ga. 607 (2013) (merger and sentencing consolidation principles)