McCLAIN v. State, 303 Ga. 6

Aaron McClain was convicted by a Newton County jury of malice murder (life without parole), aggravated assault (20 years consecutive), and related firearm and child-cruelty counts for the April 1, 2014 shooting death of his wife, Betty Mulbah McClain, and wounding of his 12-year-old stepdaughter T.S.
Marital relationship had deteriorated; McClain had twice threatened to kill Mulbah and she sought information about a protective order. McClain purchased a .380 pistol prior to the killing.
On the day of the killing, T.S. testified McClain pushed or struck Mulbah, Mulbah fell, McClain produced a gun and shot T.S. in the hand; T.S. told police that McClain shot both her and Mulbah. Mulbah was later found shot four times and died.
Autopsy: four gunshot wounds (head and back); pathologist testified it was extraordinarily unlikely Mulbah shot herself; three wounds would have been fatal. No stippling to determine range.
McClain testified he wrestled a gun from Mulbah and that shots were accidentally fired by Mulbah during the struggle; he fled the scene and was later arrested in South Carolina with the High Point .380 found in his car.
Trial and post-trial: jury convicted on all counts; felony-murder vacated by operation of law; motion for new trial denied; appeal to Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (McClain)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to sustain convictions	Evidence insufficient; no eyewitness to Mulbah being shot and pathologist could not conclusively rule out self-infliction	Testimony (T.S.), threats by McClain, pathologist’s opinion that self-shooting extremely unlikely, and flight support conviction	Evidence sufficient; jury could disbelieve McClain and credit State evidence
Trial court’s refusal to charge accident and misfortune (OCGA § 16-2-2)	Requested charge supported by defendant’s account that shootings were accidental during struggle	Jury was properly instructed on malice; verdict of malice murder reflects rejection of accident theory	Refusal harmless — jury’s malice finding precludes acceptance of accident defense
Admission of email about insufficient bank funds	Evidence irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial, attacking character	Relevant to show financial stress that could explain motive/temper; minimal prejudice under Rule 403	Admission within trial court’s discretion and any error was harmless given minimal prejudice and strong other evidence

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard for conviction)
Woolfolk v. State, 282 Ga. 139 (flight as consciousness of guilt)
Reddick v. State, 301 Ga. 90 (standard for when requested jury instruction is authorized and harmless-error framework)
Hodges v. State, 302 Ga. 564 (harmless-error standard for jury-instruction errors)
Sears v. State, 290 Ga. 1 (jury’s malice finding negates accident defense)