Solomon v. State, 304 Ga. 846

On October 7, 2011, Curtis Pinkney was shot and killed at a Chevron after an earlier dispute involving Solomon's girlfriend; Solomon and his brother Slyrika (Arnold) went to the location armed.
Video shows Solomon and Pinkney physically fighting inside the Chevron while Arnold, armed, pointed a gun; after Solomon was knocked down, Arnold shot Pinkney; both men fled together.
Solomon was indicted (with Arnold) for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm offenses; tried jointly and convicted; Solomon sentenced to life plus consecutive firearm terms.
Solomon argued on appeal that the evidence was legally insufficient to prove he aided/abetted the shooting, that the trial court abused its discretion by denying severance, and that several jury-charge errors occurred.
The Georgia Supreme Court reviewed the record (including surveillance video) and affirmed the convictions.

Issue	Solomon's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to convict Solomon as a party to the murder	Evidence only shows Solomon was a bystander; no proof he aided or abetted Arnold in the shooting	Solomon’s threats, traveling there armed, handing weapon to Arnold, conduct during fight, joint flight, and false statements support inference he shared criminal intent	Affirmed — evidence sufficient to permit a rational jury to find Solomon guilty as a party
Denial of pretrial motion to sever trials from Arnold	Stronger evidence against Arnold caused spillover prejudice to Solomon; severance required	Same applicable law; no antagonistic defenses; substantially the same evidence would have been admitted in separate trials; evidence of acting in concert	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion in denying severance
Alleged erroneous jury instruction on aggravated assault	Trial court erred in giving instruction on aggravated assault	Aggravated assault merged into murder; defendant not convicted of it, so any error is moot	Affirmed — claim moot due to merger
Refusal to charge involuntary manslaughter/reckless conduct as lesser included offenses	Requested lesser offenses based on fistfight with Pinkney	Indictment charged murder based on shooting, not beating; fight was consensual (not simple assault/battery); no evidentiary basis for these lesser-included charges	Affirmed — trial court properly refused lesser-offense charges

Ellis v. State, 292 Ga. 276 (evidence of presence, companionship, and conduct can show party liability)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
Blackledge v. State, 299 Ga. 385 (severance factors for non-capital murder cases)
Strozier v. State, 277 Ga. 78 (strength of evidence against one co-defendant does not alone require severance where concerted action shown)
Nicely v. State, 291 Ga. 788 (merger renders aggravated assault conviction void; related jury-instruction mootness)
Turner v. State, 281 Ga. 487 (lesser-included-offense instructions must be within the scope of the indictment)
Simmons v. State, 266 Ga. 223 (reckless conduct as basis for involuntary manslaughter instruction)
Green v. State, 302 Ga. 816 (party liability where defendant engaged in fight and a companion then shot victim)
Smith v. State, 277 Ga. 95 (group ambush where another member shot victim supports party liability)