Huber v. State, 319 Ga. 78

Andrew Huber was convicted of felony murder (predicated on aggravated assault) in the shooting death of Daniel Raburn in Laurens County, Georgia, following a 2021 indictment and a 2022 jury trial.
Huber’s co-defendants, Thomas Harper and Brandilee Woodard-Brady, were also indicted; Harper was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and Woodard-Brady pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Huber was found not guilty of malice murder but guilty of felony murder and the accompanying aggravated assault charges; he was sentenced to life without parole.
Key evidence included text messages showing Woodard-Brady asking Huber to "beat [Raburn’s] a**,” Huber's and Harper’s physical altercation with Raburn, Harper shooting Raburn, and Huber’s clothes later found to have Raburn’s blood.
Huber appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence, effectiveness of his trial counsel, and the alleged errors in jury instructions regarding assault and manslaughter.

Issue	Huber’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for felony murder as a party to the crime	Evidence insufficient; Huber did not directly participate in the shooting	Evidence shows Huber aided/abetted; presence, conduct, and clothing link support party liability	Evidence sufficient for conviction as party to felony murder
Ineffective assistance: jury instruction on witness credibility/motives	Counsel failed to request specific instructions re: plea deals and bias	Jury received adequate credibility/bias instructions under pattern charges	No deficiency; instructions were adequate
Ineffective assistance: cross-examination on witness plea benefits	Counsel failed to elicit details of plea deal/penalties avoided by Woodard-Brady	Jury heard about plea and impeachment; strong evidence independently supported guilt	No prejudice shown; claim fails
Plain error: jury instructions on assault and manslaughter	Instructions on simple assault and manslaughter were erroneous	Instructions followed pattern and law; Huber requested the charge on manslaughter	No plain error; invited error doctrine barring reversal

Fitts v. State, 312 Ga. 134 (Ga. 2021) (standard for sufficiency of evidence in criminal conviction)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (ineffective assistance of counsel standard)
Mathews v. State, 314 Ga. 360 (Ga. 2022) (felony murder conviction does not require intent to kill)
Harris v. State, 312 Ga. 602 (Ga. 2021) (party liability for felony murder)
Perkins v. State, 313 Ga. 885 (Ga. 2022) (jury instructions on credibility and impeachment sufficient under law)