Jones v. State, 301 Ga. 1

On Sept. 14, 2010, two bystanders (Thaddeus Nelson and Randy Wilder) were fatally shot during a dispute between two neighborhood rap groups (the "Bluff Gang" and "Young Crew") in Atlanta; multiple YC members were present and fled when shots were fired.
Appellant Ladarrius Jones (a Bluff Gang member) was indicted with co-defendants for two counts of malice murder, related aggravated assaults on four YC members, and a firearm offense; jury convicted Appellant of the malice murders, four aggravated assaults, and possession of a firearm during a felony.
Defense witnesses placed Appellant inside a nearby club during the fatal shooting and testified he did not have a gun and remained inside until police sirens; other witnesses placed Appellant with co-defendant Jarquez Jones earlier and at times shooting at fleeing YC members.
The victims died at a Fulton County address; shell casings were recovered from the area where Jarquez had been seen, and no evidence established firing from outside Fulton County.
Post-trial, Appellant challenged venue, the trial court’s refusal to charge voluntary manslaughter, and argued merger of aggravated assault convictions with malice murder convictions because different counts allegedly reflected transferred intent.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Venue (OCGA § 17-2-2(c))	State: venue established because cause of death was inflicted where victims died in Fulton County	Jones: shots may have been fired outside Fulton County; no proof fatal shots were fired in Fulton	Affirmed: venue proven beyond a reasonable doubt because fatal injuries were inflicted where victims died in Fulton County
Voluntary manslaughter jury charge	Jones: evidence of provocation (prior threats/shots at Daniel; ongoing feud) warranted lesser-included charge	State: evidence showed Appellant hid in club and did not return fire; no serious provocation evidence	No plain error: charge not required — defendant’s evidence showed alibi/taking cover, not acting from sudden irresistible passion
Merger of aggravated assaults into malice murder	Jones: transferred intent made assaults lesser-included offenses that must merge with murders	State: assaults and murders affected different victims, so merger doctrine does not apply	Affirmed: convictions do not merge when crimes affect different persons
Sufficiency of the evidence (general)	Jones: challenges limited to venue/lesser charge/merger; otherwise implies insufficiency	State: eyewitness and circumstantial evidence authorized convictions	Court independently reviewed and found evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia

Crawford v. State, 297 Ga. 680 (forum and venue burden can be proven with direct and circumstantial evidence)
Twitty v. State, 298 Ga. 204 (venue must be established by record evidence)
Jones v. State, 296 Ga. 663 (case record adopted regarding co-defendant’s actions and related analysis)
Merritt v. State, 292 Ga. 327 (definition and standards for voluntary manslaughter/serious provocation)
Armstrong v. State, 264 Ga. 505 (voluntary manslaughter charge not warranted where evidence shows defendant was elsewhere)
Henderson v. State, 285 Ga. 240 (predicate offense does not merge with murder when different victims are involved)
Jones v. State, 290 Ga. 670 (statutory interpretation: crimes affecting different persons do not merge)
Biddy v. State, 253 Ga. 289 (murder and aggravated assault on different victims do not merge)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)