Oliphant v. State, 295 Ga. 597

Oliphant was convicted in Georgia Supreme Court of malice murder and 15 other offenses for July 2006 armed robbery and shooting in Carrollton.
Trialjury convicted on 16 of 17 counts; theft by receiving was nolle prossed; sentences included two life terms plus 130 years.
Oliphant, age 17 at the time, accompanied others to Elizabeth Village; one victim died, another was injured; guns used and disposed of after the crimes.
Two groups coordinated the robbery; Oliphant supplied a pistol and fled the scene; accomplices disposed of guns; several firearms matched to Oliphant and a co-defendant.
New appellate counsel filed a post-trial motion in 2010; the motion was denied after a 2013 hearing; Oliphant timely appealed in 2013.
Court vacates some sentences and orders resentencing on specific counts while affirming in all other respects.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether evidence supported Oliphant’s convictions	Oliphant argues insufficiency on some counts	State contends sufficient evidence established party liability	Evidence sufficient to sustain convictions for charged crimes
Whether trial counsel failed to render effective assistance	Counsel failed to object to prejudicial evidence	No reasonable probability trial result would differ	No deficient performance or prejudice found; ineffective-assistance claim denied
Whether sentence on Count 17 (misdemeanor gun possession by a minor) was illegal	Sentence exceeded misdemeanor cap	Not disputed at trial	Count 17 sentence vacated and remanded for proper resentencing
Whether multiple convictions should merge for sentencing	Some convictions should merge into single offenses	Some convictions stood separate; no merger	Counts 2, 3, 5, 11 vacated; Count 17 vacated; remand for resentencing; remaining convictions affirmed

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. Supreme Court 1979) (sufficiency standard for evidence review)
Banta v. State, 282 Ga. 392 (Ga. 2007) (malice murder and related offenses; mental state standards)
Lucky v. State, 286 Ga. 478 (Ga. 2010) (felony murder as surplusage when malice murder proven; merger likely)
Vergara v. State, 287 Ga. 194 (Ga. 2010) (merger principles for lesser included offenses; double jeopardy considerations)
Drinkard v. Walker, 281 Ga. 211 (Ga. 2006) (test for when offenses are distinct or same transaction requires merger)
Bradley v. State, 292 Ga. 607 (Ga. 2013) (armed robbery vs. aggravated assault with intent to rob; merger analysis)
Long v. State, 287 Ga. 886 (Ga. 2010) (merger and elements analysis in aggravated assault vs. armed robbery)
Thomas v. State, 289 Ga. 877 (Ga. 2011) (aggravated assault not merging when after completion of armed robbery)