Howard v. State, 307 Ga. 284

On January 6, 2016, Jaylon Maddox was shot and later died during an attempted robbery; shots were fired at Maddox, Zeric Henderson, and Justin Sellers.
Perpetrator fled in a white Pontiac; Sellers provided a vehicle description and partial plate.
Laterrica Yearby testified Howard borrowed her white Pontiac that night, that Howard suggested committing a robbery, and that Howard told her the next day not to tell anyone he had shot someone.
Two 9mm shell casings recovered at the scene were ballistically matched to a Kel‑Tec 9mm recovered from Renisha Howard two days later.
Sellers and Henderson identified Bruce Howard at trial as the shooter; Howard was convicted of malice murder and related counts and sentenced (life with parole possibility on malice murder); he appealed only the sufficiency of the evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove Howard was the shooter or present at the shooting	State: Yes — eyewitness IDs, Yearby’s testimony (borrowed car + admission), and ballistics linking the Kel‑Tec to scene support conviction	Howard: No — identification unreliable (dark, quick events), evidence conflicts and others had links to the crime	Court affirmed: evidence, viewed favorably to the jury, was sufficient to support the convictions

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Mims v. State, 304 Ga. 851 (2019) (Georgia application of Jackson sufficiency review)
Gadson v. State, 303 Ga. 871 (2018) (credibility and eyewitness identification are for the jury to decide)