Marquez v. State, 298 Ga. 448

On March 3, 2010 Maxwell Fiandt was shot and killed in his apartment; marijuana and a broken jar were found at the scene.
Hector Marquez, Jahvon Pittman, and Melville Reid were indicted on multiple charges; Reid pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and testified for the State at trial.
Marquez and Pittman were tried jointly in Fulton County; jury convicted Marquez of felony murder and unlawful possession of a firearm during a felony; life sentence for felony murder with a consecutive 5-year firearms term (suspended).
Marquez testified that the killing was accidental and that Pittman accidentally fired the gun after a scuffle; Pittman did not testify and asserted an alibi through other witnesses.
Marquez moved pretrial to sever his trial from Pittman, arguing antagonistic defenses and prejudice from a joint trial; the trial court denied the motion.
Marquez appealed solely on the ground that the denial of severance violated his due process rights; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying severance of Marquez and Pittman	Marquez: joint trial was prejudicial because Pittman asserted an antagonistic alibi defense and Marquez could not call Pittman to testify	State/Pittman: joint trial proper; antagonistic defenses alone do not require severance; no showing of specific prejudice	Denial affirmed — no abuse of discretion; antagonistic defenses alone insufficient and Marquez failed to show actual prejudice or that Pittman would have testified exculpatorily

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard for criminal convictions)
Nwakanma v. State, 296 Ga. 493 (factors for severance analysis)
Thomas v. State, 293 Ga. 829 (burden on defendant to show prejudice from joint trial)
Howard v. State, 279 Ga. 166 (antagonistic defenses not necessarily harmful)
Kitchens v. State, 296 Ga. 384 (presence of antagonistic defenses alone insufficient to require severance)
Butler v. State, 270 Ga. 441 (severance requires showing of denial of due process)
Butler v. State, 290 Ga. 412 (inability to compel co-defendant testimony not per se grounds for severance absent a showing the testimony would be exculpatory)
Owen v. State, 266 Ga. 312 (same principle regarding co-defendant testimony)
Cain v. State, 235 Ga. 128 (same principle regarding co-defendant testimony)
Perry v. State, 173 Ga. App. 541 (discussing co-defendant testimony at joint trial)
Price v. State, 155 Ga. App. 206 (discussing co-defendant testimony at joint trial)