Sales v. State, 296 Ga. 538

Courtney Sales drove from New Jersey to Americus, GA, in December 2005 with Jamal Cooper to purchase firearms; a planned transaction turned into an armed robbery and Cooper was killed.
Co-defendants (through plea deals) testified that Sales shot Cooper in the back of the head and then arranged for someone to shoot Sales to make him appear the victim.
Sales was convicted by a Taylor County jury of felony murder (based on armed robbery), armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime; he received life plus additional terms.
Sales filed a motion for new trial raising, among other claims, that the trial judge improperly commented on the evidence in violation of OCGA § 17-8-57; the trial court denied relief after post-conviction proceedings.
On appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, the sole dispositive issue was whether the trial court violated OCGA § 17-8-57 by telling the venire, during voir dire, "This happened in Taylor County," thereby intimating an opinion on the venue element.

Issue	Sales' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the trial judge's statement to the venire that "This happened in Taylor County" violated OCGA § 17-8-57 by expressing an opinion on a disputed element (venue).	The statement improperly suggested venue was established and thus expressed the court's opinion on a fact the State had to prove.	The statement was a harmless, preliminary remark about the case facts for juror screening and did not decide an element.	Reversed: the statement violated OCGA § 17-8-57; any such violation mandates a new trial.

Rouse v. State, 765 S.E.2d 879 (Ga. 2014) (trial-court statement to venire locating crime in a county violates OCGA § 17-8-57)
Patel v. State, 651 S.E.2d 55 (Ga. 2007) (OCGA § 17-8-57 violations require reversal regardless of shown prejudice)
Murphy v. State, 722 S.E.2d 51 (Ga. 2012) (contemporaneous objection not required to preserve § 17-8-57 claim)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)