PEEPLES v. BRAZELL, 306 Ga. 111

In 2014 McKie was indicted (and tried in 2016) on multiple counts arising from a fatal shooting; one count (Count 7) charged possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The State offered into evidence a two-page certified accusation from Fulton County showing McKie pled guilty to first-degree forgery; no judgment of conviction or sentence was included.
Defense counsel made repeated concessions in closing that McKie “was a convicted felon,” while arguing justification/self-defense to negate criminal liability for possession.
The trial court admitted the accusation without objection, instructed the jury that the document purported to be a prior conviction and could be considered only as to impeachment and the felony-status element, and charged the standard circumstantial-evidence rule (OCGA § 24-14-6).
The jury convicted McKie of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; he received five years. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a divided decision; the Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the accusation (showing a guilty plea but no judgment) was sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove McKie was previously convicted of a felony	State: the accusation showing a guilty plea to first-degree forgery, together with jury instructions and absence of contrary evidence, supplied sufficient circumstantial proof of a prior felony conviction	McKie: the accusation alone was insufficient because no judgment was introduced and reasonable alternative hypotheses (plea withdrawn, plea not accepted, first-offender discharge, conviction reduced) were not excluded	The Court held the accusation was sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove prior felony conviction given the jury instructions, lack of any alternative hypothesis presented to the jury, and defense counsel’s failure to offer one (counsel’s statements not treated as evidence)

Tiller v. State, 286 Ga. App. 230 (court of appeals decision on sufficiency where indictment did not prove felony status) (cited re: insufficiency precedent)
Daniel v. State, 301 Ga. 783 (Georgia rule that counsel statements are not evidence)
Menefee v. State, 301 Ga. 505 (presumption that jurors follow limiting instructions)
Collett v. State, 305 Ga. 853 (circumstantial-evidence review and requirement to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis)
Worthen v. State, 304 Ga. 862 (jurors may draw reasonable inferences based on everyday experience)
De Palma v. State, 225 Ga. 465 (definition of ‘hypothesis’ in circumstantial-evidence context)
Jackson v. State, 305 Ga. 614 (new Evidence Code preserves prior circumstantial-evidence standard)
State v. Almanza, 304 Ga. 553 (case law interpreting prior Code provisions applies under the new Evidence Code)