Shepard v. State, 300 Ga. 167

On Nov. 18, 2006 David Lumpkin was shot dead in his home; Rodney Shepard, Eric Hassel, and Terrence White were connected by friendship and motive (revenge for an earlier robbery).
Shepard and Hassel went to the house; a hooded shooter entered and fired multiple shots; evidence tied a recovered gun (found where Shepard described) to bullets that hit Lumpkin.
Shepard made recorded phone calls from New Orleans and post-arrest statements to detectives containing incriminating admissions and offers to cooperate; he also tried to coordinate stories with co-defendant Hassel.
Shepard was indicted and convicted by a Clarke County jury of felony murder and unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime; sentenced to life plus five years.
On appeal Shepard argued (1) insufficient evidence; (2) suppression error — statement induced by promise of benefit; (3) erroneous jury charge on conspiracy; and (4) ineffective assistance of counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to convict Shepard	Evidence shows Hassel may have been triggerman; Shepard argues not enough to prove he was a party to murder	State: evidence of shared criminal intent (planning, conduct, gun transfer, post-crime statements) supports party liability	Affirmed — evidence sufficient to convict Shepard as a party to the crime (Jackson standard)
Suppression of post-arrest statement (promise of benefit)	Shepard: detectives promised advocacy/arrangement, creating hope of benefit that induced confession	State: detectives’ statements were noncommittal; no promise of reduced punishment or specific deal	Affirmed — trial court properly found no improper promise; statement admissible
Jury instruction on conspiracy (not charged)	Shepard: indictment did not allege conspiracy; no evidentiary basis for conspiracy charge	State: circumstantial evidence (common design, lure to buy drugs, coordinated conduct) warranted conspiracy instruction	Affirmed — charge permissible where trial evidence supports instruction even without conspiracy indictment
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Counsel failed to object to alleged improper character evidence and failed to request limiting instruction on prior felonies	State: testimony about drug-buy pretext was admissible res gestae; trial court gave limiting instruction on prior felonies; no prejudice shown	Affirmed — performance not shown deficient or prejudicial under Strickland

Pyatt v. State, 298 Ga. 742 (party liability and conspiracy instruction support)
Grant v. State, 298 Ga. 835 (shared intent may be inferred from conduct)
Hassel v. State, 294 Ga. 834 (party liability sufficient despite uncertainty about triggerman)
Finley v. State, 298 Ga. 451 (definition of improper hope of benefit under former OCGA § 24-3-50)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance standard)
Samuels v. State, 288 Ga. 48 (officer suggestion to speak with prosecutor not improper promise)
Wilson v. State, 293 Ga. 508 (noncommittal statements by detectives do not render confession involuntary)