Jackson v. State, 301 Ga. 878

Willie Jackson was convicted by a jury of malice murder and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony for the murder of his sister Willie Mae Jackson.
Jackson requested jury instructions on voluntary manslaughter and insanity; the court denied both.
Evidence showed Jackson lived with Willie Mae, believed she stole his Social Security check, and began planning to confront her about it.
On May 4, 2006, Jackson retrieved a knife, confronted Willie Mae, and stabbed her repeatedly, later using a machete; he made statements indicating he killed her.
Law enforcement arrived after a 911 call; Jackson barricaded the door, wandered with a machete, and was subdued by a S.W.A.T. team.
The appellate court affirmed the conviction, concluding no error in refusing voluntary manslaughter and insanity instructions, and noted procedural sentencing issues did not affect the outcome.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether voluntary manslaughter instruction was required	Jackson	State	No error; insufficient evidence of sudden, irresistible passion.
Whether insanity instruction was warranted	Jackson	State	No error; evidence did not show lack of capacity or delusional compulsion.

Dugger v. State, 297 Ga. 120 (Ga. 2015) (distinguishes voluntary manslaughter from self-defense; need for provocation)
Johnson v. State, 297 Ga. 839 (Ga. 2015) (reiterates non-provoking acts or statements may not establish voluntary manslaughter)
Gresham v. State, 289 Ga. 103 (Ga. 2011) (angry statements alone do not amount to serious provocation)
Merritt v. State, 292 Ga. 327 (Ga. 2013) (holds that anger over money generally is not serious provocation)
Phillips v. State, 255 Ga. 539 (Ga. 1986) (defendant not entitled to insanity instruction absent evidence of legal insanity)
Lawrence v. State, 265 Ga. 310 (Ga. 1995) (legal insanity not established by medical diagnosis alone)