State v. Cash, 302 Ga. 587

Elgerie Cash and daughter Jennifer Weathington were jointly tried (Oct. 2013) and convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession in the fatal shooting of Lennis Jones; both received life plus consecutive firearm sentences.
Superior court later granted each defendant a new trial (ineffective assistance and general‑grounds weight-of-evidence), and this Court affirmed those grants in State v. Cash ("Cash I").
After remittitur, Weathington filed a “Double Jeopardy Plea in Bar” arguing trial evidence was legally insufficient under Jackson v. Virginia; Cash adopted the plea. A different superior‑court judge sustained the plea and directed acquittals on all counts.
The State appealed, invoking OCGA § 5‑7‑1(a)(3) (appeal of an order sustaining a plea in bar when defendant has not been put in jeopardy); the question of whether the State’s appeal was authorized turned on timing (motion in bar sustained before any retrial jury was impaneled).
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the superior court, holding the plea in bar should not have been sustained for insufficiency because the Jackson standard, applied to the trial evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, supported convictions for both defendants.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Cash/Weathington)	Held
Jurisdiction to hear State's appeal under OCGA § 5‑7‑1(a)(3)	Appeal permitted because plea in bar was sustained before any retrial jury impaneled	Appeal improper because defendants were already in jeopardy from first trial (per Cash I)	Allowed: appealable; plea in bar was sustained prior to any retrial impaneling, so §5‑7‑1(a)(3) applies
Whether defendants abandoned sufficiency claim by withdrawing cross‑appeals in Cash I	State: trial court lacked jurisdiction to reconsider Jackson sufficiency; defendants abandoned sufficiency issue	Defendants: withdrawal of cross‑appeal did not waive the sufficiency claim because the trial court’s Jackson ruling had been only oral and not reduced to a written order	Defendants did not abandon the sufficiency challenge; superior court could consider Jackson issue
Legal sufficiency of the evidence under Jackson v. Virginia	Evidence supported convictions for both women as principals or as aider/abettors/conspirators; forensic and circumstantial evidence permitted rational jurors to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt	Defendants argued Jones shot himself; superior court found evidence insufficient under Jackson	Reversed superior court: viewing evidence in light most favorable to verdict, a rational trier of fact could find both guilty beyond reasonable doubt; plea in bar should not have been sustained

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (legal sufficiency standard: view evidence in light most favorable to verdict)
United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470 (government appeal of a motion in bar is allowed if sustained prior to impaneling a subsequent jury)
State v. Cash, 298 Ga. 90 (affirming superior court’s grant of new trials on general grounds)
Walker v. State, 296 Ga. 161 (summary of Jackson standard as applied in Georgia)