McCoy v. State, 315 Ga. 536

On December 2, 2003, Theodore Barber called 911 reporting two men trying to break into his apartment; gunshots followed and Barber died of a .38‑caliber gunshot to the chest. Two different caliber projectiles (.38 and .40) were found at the scene.
A burgundy Ford Expedition matching Barber’s description fled the scene; officer pursuit led to the arrest of co‑defendant Michael Favors. The SUV was later determined to be stolen from Tony Smith two days earlier.
A latent fingerprint on a candy‑bar wrapper found under the SUV’s driver seat matched Thomas McCoy (Appellant).
Witnesses (Taja Glenn and Lakeesha Reese) testified McCoy and Favors had been riding in that SUV, stayed in a hotel where guns were present, and Glenn overheard talk of “hitting a lick.” McCoy later told Glenn the “lick went bad” and the victim “got shot.”
McCoy was convicted of malice murder, related felonies, and firearms counts. He appealed, arguing insufficient evidence: (1) that the crime‑scene technician’s fingerprint testimony was inadmissible hearsay; and (2) that the evidence was insufficient to convict him as a party under OCGA § 16‑2‑20. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (McCoy)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Admissibility / probative value of crime‑scene technician Sager’s fingerprint testimony	Sager’s testimony was non‑probative hearsay (formulation and third‑person phrasing); thus it could not support sufficiency	Sager was an admitted latent‑print expert who testified from his own examination and personal knowledge; testimony was properly considered	Court held Sager’s testimony was based on personal knowledge, not hearsay, and could be considered for sufficiency.
Sufficiency to convict McCoy as a party to the crimes (OCGA § 16‑2‑20)	Evidence was largely circumstantial and conflicted (witness inconsistencies); reasonable hypothesis that Favors acted alone or McCoy tried to dissuade him	State pointed to presence/companionship/conduct before, during, after the offense, fingerprint in the stolen SUV, eyewitness testimony of guns and plans, and McCoy’s post‑event statements to Glenn	Court held evidence—direct and circumstantial—was sufficient for a rational jury to infer McCoy’s intent and party liability; circumstantial proof excluded other reasonable hypotheses; judgment affirmed.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes federal constitutional sufficiency standard)
Sams v. State, 314 Ga. 306 (2022) (Georgia application of Jackson standard)
Jones v. State, 314 Ga. 214 (2022) (jury may infer intent from presence, companionship, and conduct)
Graves v. State, 306 Ga. 485 (2019) (circumstantial evidence need only exclude reasonable hypotheses)
Bell v. State, 294 Ga. 443 (2014) (testimony based on a witness’s personal knowledge is not hearsay)
Carter v. State, 314 Ga. 317 (2022) (resolving witness conflicts and credibility is jury province)
Dawson v. State, 308 Ga. 613 (2020) (erroneously admitted hearsay under old code had no probative value)
Clyde v. State, 276 Ga. 839 (2003) (circumstantial‑evidence standard requiring exclusion of other reasonable hypotheses)
Favors v. State, 296 Ga. 842 (2015) (related co‑defendant appeal; remand for resentencing issues)