Jones v. State, 299 Ga. 377

Background

On June 13, 2011, Lamaurice Westbrook was shot and killed after getting into a silver Pontiac with Quinton Jones (appellant), the driver, and Tony Goolsby following a drug‑sale meeting in Atlanta.
Goolsby testified he gave marijuana to Jones, Jones pointed a gun at Goolsby and ordered him out; Goolsby heard shots and later saw the victim slump; the victim died from a close‑range gunshot to the head.
Jones testified he did not know the victim/Goolsby and that the victim produced a gun which discharged during a struggle with the driver.
A jury convicted Jones of malice murder, multiple felony murder theories, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during a felony; he was sentenced to life without parole plus five years consecutive.
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, rejected sufficiency and venue challenges, upheld admission of prior guilty pleas as other‑acts evidence, rejected ineffective‑assistance claim, but found sentencing/merger errors and remanded for resentencing on two counts.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Jones)	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for murder convictions	Evidence (Goolsby, other witness, ballistic/medical) supports conviction beyond reasonable doubt	Evidence circumstantial; jury should have reasonable doubt; alternate hypotheses (someone else fired)	Evidence sufficient under Jackson and Georgia circumstantial‑evidence standards; jury could reject alternate hypotheses
Venue (Fulton County)	Venue proven by testimony that car pulled into mini‑mart parking lot in Fulton County immediately after shooting	Shooting occurred in a moving car; State did not prove precise location of fatal shots	Venue proven beyond reasonable doubt by direct and circumstantial evidence; jury properly found venue
Admission of prior guilty pleas as other‑acts evidence	Prior pleas admissible to show intent/motive where intent was contested	Admission was unfairly prejudicial and should have been excluded	Trial court did not abuse discretion: prior guilty pleas were relevant to intent, probative value not substantially outweighed prejudice under Rule 404(b)
Ineffective assistance of counsel	N/A (respondent)	Trial counsel failed to object to other‑acts evidence and to venue; cumulative prejudice warrants new trial	Counsel was not ineffective: objections would have been meritless as court properly admitted evidence and venue was proved; no Strickland prejudice shown
Sentencing / merger of convictions	Trial court merged felony counts into malice murder as if felony murder counts still valid	Merger improper as felony murder counts vacated; underlying felonies must be evaluated for factual merger into malice murder	Court found trial court erred: aggravated assault (Count 3) merged into malice murder, but attempted armed robbery (Count 7) and possession by a felon (Count 9) did not merge; remanded for resentencing on Counts 7 and 9

Key Cases Cited

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (constitutional sufficiency standard)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance standard)
Brannon v. State, 298 Ga. 601 (court may correct merger sentencing errors on direct appeal)
Hulett v. State, 296 Ga. 49 (addressing merger and vacatur of felony‑murder counts)
Clark v. State, 296 Ga. 543 (circumstantial evidence standard and rejecting alternative hypotheses)
Merritt v. State, 285 Ga. 778 (circumstantial evidence need only exclude reasonable hypotheses)
Bradshaw v. State, 296 Ga. 650 (Rule 404(b) analysis and probative vs. prejudicial balancing)
Porter v. State, 292 Ga. 292 (meritless objections and ineffectiveness)
Crawford v. State, 297 Ga. 680 (venue is a jurisdictional fact for jury determination)
Lindsey v. State, 295 Ga. 343 (venue may be proved by direct and circumstantial evidence)