Hood v. State
303 Ga. 420
Ga.2018Background
- Victim Morrell Dorsey and his girlfriend went twice to Tommy Hood’s DeKalb County motel room to buy crack cocaine; Hood sold drugs from the room and kept a chrome revolver nearby.
- During the second visit, Dorsey hid a packet of crack in his rectum; Hood woke, accused the visitors of stealing, brandished the revolver, patted down Dorsey, and handed the gun to an associate called “Slim.”
- A struggle ensued when Dorsey lunged to disarm Slim; Slim fired twice, killing Dorsey. Hood fled, taking some electronics; police later found drug paraphernalia in the room and the packet in Dorsey’s rectum.
- Hood admitted selling cocaine from the room, being present at the shooting, and later stated that Dorsey deserved to die for stealing the drugs; Hood denied touching the gun.
- A jury convicted Hood of felony murder (based on possession with intent to distribute cocaine), aggravated assaults, and related firearm counts; Hood appealed, raising sufficiency, jury-instruction, ineffective-assistance, and sentencing/merger claims.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Hood) | Defendant's Argument (State) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for felony murder (predicate: possession with intent to distribute) | Hood: Theft of the packet by Dorsey interrupted Hood’s possession, so felony no longer proximate cause of death | State: Hood’s ongoing drug-dealing, brandishing of gun, handing gun to Slim, and motive to recover drugs made the drug-felony the proximate cause | Court: Affirmed — evidence sufficient; death occurred during res gestae and was a foreseeable consequence of drug-dealing |
| Merger / sentencing for firearm-based felony murder and possession-by-felon counts | Hood: Trial court “merged” firearm-based felony murder into drug-based murder (he argued insufficiency/mis-merger) | State: A firearm-based felony murder verdict was vacated by operation of law; separate possession-by-felon conviction may not have been entered/sentenced | Court: Naming error acknowledged (felony-murder count vacated by operation of law); trial court did not convict/sentence on that count; State failed to cross-appeal to correct potential omission for the possession-by-felon count, so Court declines to exercise discretion to correct merger error |
| Jury instructions on justification (defense of property / forcible felony / aggravated assault) — plain error review | Hood: Court should have instructed explicitly that Dorsey’s lunging could be aggravated assault (a forcible felony) and given statutory definition of forcible felony | State: Charge given fairly instructed jury that deadly force is justified to prevent a forcible felony; definitions of aggravated assault and felony were included elsewhere in charge | Court: No plain error — charge as a whole adequately covered justification and aggravated assault; additional specific instructions not shown to be obviously prejudicial |
| Ineffective assistance for failure to preserve instructional objections | Hood: Trial counsel’s failure to object deprived appellate review and was professionally deficient | State: Even if deficient performance, Hood cannot show prejudice because charge as a whole was adequate | Court: Strickland prejudice not shown; ineffective-assistance claim fails |
| Failure to charge involuntary manslaughter (reckless conduct) as lesser-included offense | Hood: Conduct could be characterized as reckless and support involuntary manslaughter instruction | State: Under Georgia law, involuntary manslaughter requires an unlawful act other than a felony; Hood’s acts were felonies | Court: No plain error — underlying acts were felonies, so involuntary manslaughter instruction not warranted; counsel not ineffective for failing to request it |
Key Cases Cited
- State v. Jackson, 287 Ga. 646 (proximate-cause standard for felony murder)
- Davis v. State, 290 Ga. 757 (drug transactions are foreseeably dangerous; violence inherent in drug trade)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review)
- Leeks v. State, 296 Ga. 515 (felony-murder convictions based on certain predicate felonies may be vacated by operation of law)
- Dixon v. State, 302 Ga. 691 (Georgia will rarely correct merger errors benefiting a defendant absent exceptional circumstances)
- Kelly v. State, 290 Ga. 29 (plain-error standard for unpreserved jury charge objections)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance of counsel standard)
- Mohamud v. State, 297 Ga. 532 (failure to request aggravated-assault definition instruction did not prejudice defendant when charge as a whole was adequate)