Spence v. State, 307 Ga. 520

On April 3, 2011, 16‑month‑old Samuel Miller died while in the care of Mary Ann Spence, who was babysitting in an Atlanta apartment; Spence was the only adult present when the fatal injuries occurred.
Five‑year‑old J.P. testified that he saw Spence pick up Samuel, shake him several times, and throw him onto a hard bed; J.P. gave multiple out‑of‑court statements shortly after the event describing similar observations.
Neighbors found Samuel unresponsive; paramedics transported him to a children’s hospital where he was pronounced dead. Spence gave statements to police saying Samuel had fallen, drank juice, and napped; she was not initially a suspect.
The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from blunt force trauma: multiple blows that punched a 3/4‑inch hole in the skull and produced complex skull fractures; the ME opined a five‑year‑old could not have caused the injuries and that the child would have been immediately incapacitated.
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Spence for malice murder and related counts; a jury convicted her and the trial court sentenced her to life for malice murder. Spence appealed raising sufficiency, evidentiary bolstering, and failure to give an accident instruction.

Issue	Spence's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to support malice murder	Evidence was circumstantial and did not exclude reasonable hypotheses of innocence (preexisting ailment, fall, or accident)	Eyewitness J.P.’s direct testimony plus medical and circumstantial evidence supported murder beyond a reasonable doubt	Conviction affirmed — evidence (including J.P.’s direct testimony) sufficient under Jackson and Georgia law
Admission of J.P.’s prior out‑of‑court statements (bolstering)	Trial court improperly allowed prior consistent statements to bolster J.P.; statements not admissible under OCGA § 24‑6‑613(c)	At least two statements were admissible as excited utterances; any other error was harmless given strong independent evidence	No plain error — admission did not likely affect outcome; conviction stands
Trial court’s failure to sua sponte charge jury on accident	Court should have instructed on accident as a defense sua sponte because it was her sole defense	Jury was fully instructed on State’s burden and intent; evidence negated accidental explanations; defense did not press accident at trial	No plain error — omission did not likely affect outcome; conviction stands

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes constitutional sufficiency standard)
Cochran v. State, 305 Ga. 827 (2019) (circumstantial‑evidence rule under OCGA § 24‑14‑6; exclude every reasonable hypothesis)
State v. Kelly, 290 Ga. 29 (2011) (plain‑error review framework under OCGA § 24‑1‑103(d))
Robbins v. State, 300 Ga. 387 (excited‑utterance admissibility under totality of circumstances)
Newman v. State, 305 Ga. 792 (2019) (slight evidence suffices to authorize a requested jury instruction)
Sears v. State, 290 Ga. 1 (2011) (finding guilt of malice murder negates accidental theory)
Character v. State, 285 Ga. 112 (2009) (harmless‑error principle where State had strong independent evidence)