Moore v. State
295 Ga. 709
| Ga. | 2014Background
- On Jan. 3, 2011, Patrick Ramon Moore (Appellant) and his girlfriend discovered their apartment had been burglarized; they suspected four people (Peterson, Ellis, Jarvis, Burton).
- Later that evening the four approached Moore in a dark apartment complex; Moore produced an AK-47 and fired, hitting all four; Burton was shot in the back of the head and died.
- Moore left the AK-47 at a third party’s apartment; the gun was later recovered and matched shell casings from the scene and a stolen-serial-number report.
- Multiple eyewitnesses (three victims and a maintenance worker) identified Moore as the shooter; one victim had a 9mm clip in his pocket but it showed no evidence of being used.
- Moore was convicted of malice murder and related offenses; he moved for a new trial and appealed, raising sufficiency, exclusion of victim-drug-evidence, admissibility/authentication and prejudice of Facebook evidence, and refusal to charge voluntary manslaughter.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Moore) | Defendant's Argument (State) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency / self-defense | Moore claims he reasonably feared harm after victims approached him and thus acted in self-defense; 9mm clip and a 911 statement suggest victims were armed. | Eyewitnesses said Moore fired first; no evidence victims were armed; physical/forensic evidence tied Moore to AK-47; post-shooting statements inconsistent with self-defense. | Affirmed. Evidence sufficient for conviction; jury properly rejected self-defense. |
| Exclusion of evidence that Burton had drugs | Moore argued Burton’s drug possession was relevant to show Burton’s violent propensity and justify self-defense. | State argued no factual nexus between alleged drug use/distribution and Moore’s shooting of Burton from behind. | Affirmed. Trial court did not abuse discretion; speculation insufficient to admit victim-character evidence. |
| Authentication and prejudice of Facebook evidence | Moore argued the Facebook printout wasn’t properly authenticated and that testimony about postings impermissibly put character/criminal record in evidence. | State presented circumstantial authentication (photo, hometown, nickname, phone number, unique facts); posts were relevant and probative; defense failed to contemporaneously object on character grounds. | Affirmed. Facebook page sufficiently authenticated; testimony admissible and not unduly prejudicial; contemporaneous-objection rule waived character complaint. |
| Refusal to charge voluntary manslaughter | Moore contended there was at least slight evidence of serious provocation warranting the charge. | State pointed to unprovoked attack: victims’ testimony that they did not provoke Moore and he shot them while they fled. | Affirmed. No slight evidence of provocation; voluntary manslaughter charge not required. |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of evidence review)
- White v. State, 287 Ga. 713 (credibility and justification for jury determination)
- Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32 (jury resolves credibility/conflicts)
- Burgess v. State, 292 Ga. 821 (authentication of electronic/social media evidence)
- Roseberry v. State, 274 Ga. 301 (limits on admission of victim-character evidence without nexus)
- McBride v. State, 291 Ga. 593 (excluding victim drug-use evidence lacking nexus to shooting)
- In re L.P., 324 Ga. App. 78 (MySpace/Facebook authentication by circumstantial facts)
- Merritt v. State, 292 Ga. 327 (standard for voluntary manslaughter instruction)
- Hicks v. State, 287 Ga. 260 (no voluntary manslaughter where fatal shots fired into victim's back while fleeing)
- Nichols v. State, 275 Ga. 246 (words/fighting alone typically insufficient provocation)
- Funes v. State, 289 Ga. 793 (fear someone might pull a gun is insufficient provocation)
- Johnson v. State, 292 Ga. 785 (contemporaneous-objection rule for appellate review)
- Roebuck v. State, 277 Ga. 200 (relevance can outweigh incidental character impact)