Johnson v. State, 301 Ga. 205

On May 16, 2009, a shootout in a Waffle House parking lot in Augusta resulted in Tremaine Cobb’s death and injuries to others; Nicholas Johnson, Joseph Downs, and Jonathan Harrell were implicated.
Surveillance video captured multiple people firing into a crowd; multiple shell casings (.40 and .45 caliber) were recovered and ballistics linked Cobb’s fatal wound to a .40 caliber bullet.
Witnesses (including Denvanquez “Petey” Burley and Terrance Hanna) identified Johnson as one of the shooters and testified Johnson fired a .40 caliber pistol; Harrell admitted Johnson fired multiple shots.
At trial Johnson was convicted of felony murder (predicated on aggravated assault) and two counts of aggravated assault; firearm-possession counts were nol prossed.
Johnson appealed, arguing (1) insufficient evidence for felony murder and aggravated assault, (2) trial court erred by denying severance from Downs, and (3) trial court abused discretion by refusing the jury’s request to rewatch the surveillance video during deliberations.
The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, rejecting each of Johnson’s enumerations of error and upholding the convictions and sentences.

Issue	Johnson's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for felony murder and aggravated assault	Evidence did not prove Johnson fired the fatal shot or was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; claimed self‑defense	Surveillance video, eyewitness and accomplice testimony, shell casings, and ballistics support that Johnson was one of the shooters and that the group intentionally fired into the crowd	Conviction affirmed — evidence sufficient because Johnson was part of a group that intentionally fired repeatedly into the crowd; jury could reject self‑defense
Severance from co‑defendant Downs	Joint trial prejudiced Johnson; defenses were antagonistic and required separate trials	Johnson failed to preserve severance claim and, even if considered, no showing of prejudice or antagonistic defenses at trial	Affirmed — claim not preserved; antagonistic defenses alone do not require severance absent prejudice
Jury request to view surveillance video during deliberations	Trial court abused discretion by denying the jury’s request to rewatch the evidence	Trial court has discretion to deny readbacks/review; no abuse shown	Affirmed — denial was within court’s discretion and not reversible error

Pyatt v. State, 298 Ga. 742 (evidence that defendant was a member of group firing at victim can support murder conviction)
Plez v. State, 300 Ga. 505 (appellate standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
Clark v. State, 271 Ga. 27 (jury may reject self‑defense when circumstantial evidence supports intentional act)
Krause v. State, 286 Ga. 745 (antagonistic defenses do not automatically require severance absent prejudice)
Hill v. State, 274 Ga. 591 (severance issues not preserved if defendant fails to obtain ruling below)
Moore v. State, 272 Ga. 359 (declining to consider severance arguments raised first on appeal)
Morris v. State, 254 Ga. 273 (trial court discretion on allowing jury review of evidence)
Smith v. State, 280 Ga. 161 (court need not assist jury by rereading testimony or replaying evidence; within discretion)