McNeal v. State, 302 Ga. 222

In Sept. 2010 William Callison was fatally shot after Demetrius McNeal entered a boarding house; McNeal was arrested and gave a recorded statement to police.
Facts viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict: McNeal had been drinking, entered David Reid’s room where Reid awakened to McNeal rummaging in his pocket, a struggle ensued, Callison intervened, and McNeal fired through a screen door, killing Callison.
After the shooting McNeal told companions he had "nothing else to live for" and said he would turn himself in; he also told police he was drunk, stumbled into the room, was attacked, and fired believing a friend was trapped.
Indictment and trial: Fulton County grand jury charged McNeal with malice murder, multiple felony-murder counts, aggravated assault, attempted robbery, and firearms offenses; a jury convicted on all counts at an April 2012 trial.
Post-trial: Several counts merged or were vacated by operation of law; McNeal was sentenced to life plus 15 years. He appealed, raising (1) the trial court’s refusal to give an accident instruction and (2) an alleged impermissible comment on the evidence regarding identity.

Issue	McNeal's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the court erred by refusing McNeal's requested jury instruction on accident (attempted robbery and murder)	Accident was supported by evidence that McNeal was intoxicated, stumbled into Reid’s room, and unintentionally fell on him and caused the shooting	Evidence did not reasonably raise accident: McNeal actively rummaged Reid’s pocket and there was no proof the entry or shooting was accidental; he instead advanced a justification/self-defense theory	No error: accident instruction was not authorized by the evidence; refusal was proper
Whether the trial court impermissibly commented on the evidence by stating identity was not an issue for murder/aggravated assault because McNeal admitted shooting	The court’s comment could be construed as expressing opinion on guilt and prejudicing the jury, especially since McNeal did not testify	The fact McNeal shot Callison was undisputed (witnesses saw the shooting and McNeal’s statement); stating that uncontested fact is not a violation of the anti-comment statute	No violation: court’s statement concerned an uncontested fact and therefore did not impermissibly comment on the evidence

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard for conviction)
Rashid v. State, 292 Ga. 414 (charge refusal proper if not legal/authorized by evidence)
Kellam v. State, 298 Ga. 520 (when defenses like accident must be reasonably raised by evidence)
Sauerwein v. State, 280 Ga. 438 (trial court may state facts that are uncontested without violating anti-comment rule)
McLean v. State, 297 Ga. 81 (no OCGA § 17-8-57 violation where defendant admitted shooting for purposes of justification/accident defense)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (operation of law vacatur of certain felony-murder counts upon merger)
Daniel v. State, 301 Ga. 783 (plain-error review framework for omitted instructions)