Jordan v. State, 307 Ga. 450

Background

On Jan. 20, 2016, members of the "G-Shine" gang plotted to rob Craigory Burch, a recent lottery winner; Wayan Malik Jordan agreed to participate after initially hesitating.
Jordan and others entered Burch’s home armed; Overstreet shot Burch multiple times (including a fatal wound), Jordan held victims at gunpoint and searched Jasmine Hendricks’s purse, taking phones and other items.
The group fled, divided the stolen property, and Jordan later made a custodial statement referencing killing Burch and cursed the jail upon booking.
A Ben Hill County grand jury indicted Jordan on multiple counts, including malice murder, home invasion, armed robbery, aggravated assaults, criminal gang activity, and firearm-possession felonies; he was tried alone, convicted on all counts, and sentenced to consecutive life terms and other terms.
On appeal Jordan argued (1) insufficiency of evidence for murder and armed robbery, (2) erroneous admission of gang-related evidence and a Confrontation Clause claim, and (3) ineffective assistance of counsel for various alleged omissions; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for murder (as party) and armed robbery	Jordan: evidence did not show he shared Overstreet’s intent to kill or that property was taken from Burch’s immediate presence	State: Jordan’s presence, participation before/during/after, conduct (holding victims, dividing proceeds, laughing, jail statement) establish shared intent; phones were taken from purse next to Burch and wallet taken from home	Affirmed — evidence sufficient for murder as party and for armed robbery under "immediate presence" principles (Jackson/Hardy/Benton applied)
Admission of extrinsic gang evidence (Rule 403/404) and Confrontation challenge to Overstreet’s 2015 conviction	Jordan: gang evidence cumulative and prejudicial; lawyer’s opening already acknowledged gang membership; admission of Overstreet’s prior conviction violated Confrontation	State: prosecutor needed to prove gang membership and connection to crime; admission was within discretion; even if error, evidence of the 2015 incident was cumulative and harmless	Affirmed — trial court did not abuse discretion admitting gang evidence; any error admitting Overstreet’s 2015 conviction was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt
Trial counsel failed to object to hearsay by co-participant witnesses and failed to request accomplice-corroboration instruction	Jordan: counsel should have lodged continuing hearsay objections and asked for corroboration instruction because State relied on girlfriends’ testimony	State: counsel objected in part; statements were plausibly admissible under co-conspirator exception; accomplice testimony was corroborated by other evidence (including Jordan’s jail statement)	Affirmed — counsel’s performance not deficient or, if imperfect, no prejudice under Strickland; omission of corroboration instruction unlikely to affect outcome
Trial counsel failed to demur/quash indictment counts (home invasion wording; multiple gang counts)	Jordan: indictment flawed for not explicitly alleging victim’s authority to be present; multiple gang counts duplicative	State: indictment alleged dwelling of Burch which implies authority; demurrer would fail; challenge to multiple gang counts relied on case decided after trial and raises novel question	Affirmed — indictment sufficient; counsel not ineffective for failing to pursue novel post-trial authority

Key Cases Cited

Hardy v. State, 306 Ga. 654 (criminal intent may be inferred from presence, companionship, and conduct before/during/after the offense)
Benton v. State, 305 Ga. 242 (robbery "immediate presence" principles)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Oliphant v. State, 295 Ga. 597 (merger analysis for separate offenses)
Anglin v. State, 302 Ga. 333 (trial court discretion in admitting gang evidence under Rule 403)
State v. Jefferson, 302 Ga. 435 (issues on admitting prior convictions and confrontation concerns)
Collum v. State, 281 Ga. 719 (harmless-error standard)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance standard: performance and prejudice)
Kimmelman v. Morrison, 477 U.S. 365 (trial counsel performance standards in criminal cases)
Kemp v. State, 303 Ga. 385 (co-conspirator hearsay exception and statements in furtherance of a conspiracy)
Clark v. State, 296 Ga. 543 (accomplice testimony may be corroborated by another accomplice)
Robinson v. State, 303 Ga. 321 (omission of accomplice corroboration instruction unlikely to affect outcome where corroboration exists)
Budhani v. State, 306 Ga. 315 (indictment sufficiency and notice to defendant)
Esprit v. State, 305 Ga. 429 (counsel not ineffective for failing to pursue novel legal theories not yet decided)
Anthony v. State, 303 Ga. 399 (Street Gang Act issues and limits of that precedent)
Brewner v. State, 302 Ga. 6 (failure to make on-the-record Rule 403/404 findings not plain error)