Smith v. State, 300 Ga. 538

Christopher Rayshun Smith and co-indictees planned and executed a robbery at Kevin Daniel’s home on June 1, 2013; Daniel was shot and later died, and Kamenika Whatley was assaulted and robbed.
Smith drove Jones and Sullivan to the scene, picked them up after the shooting, and Sullivan later admitted shooting Daniel; Smith’s car contained Daniel’s blood and there were phone calls between Smith and Sullivan that night.
Smith was indicted on 11 counts (including malice murder, felony murder, multiple robberies, aggravated assaults, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, and weapons counts); tried alone in March 2015.
Jury convicted Smith of felony murder (predicated on underlying felonies), several armed robbery and aggravated assault/battery counts, false imprisonment, and weapons charges; acquitted of malice murder and two aggravated-assault-with-intent counts.
Trial evidence included jail call recordings and handwritten letters from Smith; State introduced them as admissions and to show consciousness of guilt (letters asked Jones to deny Smith’s involvement).
Procedural: Smith’s first appeal was dismissed as untimely; he obtained an out-of-time appeal and this appeal followed; Court affirms convictions but vacates some sentences and remands for resentencing due to merger of underlying felonies into the felony-murder conviction.

Issue	Smith's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Admissibility of recorded jail calls	Calls were not properly authenticated (speakers, recording integrity)	OCGA §24-9-923(c) and investigator testimony sufficiently authenticated calls	Calls properly admitted; no abuse of discretion
Admissibility of handwritten letters	Letters not properly authenticated as Smith’s	Witness familiarity, delivery testimony, and content established prima facie authenticity	Letters properly admitted; no abuse of discretion
Confrontation / scope of cross-examination of co-indictee Jones	Court improperly limited cross-examining Jones about potential sentencing, violating Sixth Amendment	Court may limit marginally relevant questioning; counsel could probe bias and plea/benefit but not speculative sentencing ranges	No Sixth Amendment violation; limitation within court’s discretion
Sentencing: convictions and concurrent/consecutive terms	Sentencing on underlying felony counts duplicative of felony murder; those sentences should be vacated	State had sentenced on all counts but merger law requires vacatur of underlying felonies merged into felony murder	Vacated sentences for counts that merged into felony murder; remand for resentencing on remaining counts

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard for convictions)
Moore v. State, 295 Ga. 709 (admission of evidence reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Davis v. State, 279 Ga. 786 (authentication of recordings; pre-2013 standard)
Jones v. State, 299 Ga. 40 (OCGA §24-9-923(c) governs authentication of computer-controlled audio recordings)
United States v. Belfast, 611 F.3d 783 (11th Cir.) (prima facie authentication standard for documents)
Nicely v. State, 291 Ga. 788 (scope of cross-examination; limits permitted)
Cheley v. State, 299 Ga. 88 (prohibition on eliciting hypothetical penalties from witness without concrete plea deal)
Kipp v. State, 294 Ga. 55 (merger of underlying felonies into felony murder)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (merger doctrine explanation)
Brown v. State, 332 Ga. App. 635 (handwriting/authentication principles)
Hodo v. State, 272 Ga. 272 (limitations on cross-examination about sentencing did not constitute abuse of discretion)