State v. Denson, 306 Ga. 795

Aug. 25, 2013: a crowd gathered at a housing project called "the Circle;" an altercation involving Myron Mitchell Jr., Mickey Albritton, Earl Dasher, and Javis Denson led to shootings.
Eyewitnesses (Dasher, Zachary Mitchell, Craig Williams, Elton Williams, Tysheen Glenn) generally testified Mitchell and Albritton tussled over a gun, Albritton fell on top of Mitchell, shots were fired, Denson shot Dasher, and both Mitchell and Denson shot Albritton while he lay on the ground.
Autopsy: Albritton suffered a fatal gunshot to the back and a nonfatal shot to the buttock; no gun was recovered on victims at the scene; the firearm later linked to the killings was a gun Denson owned and later lent to Glenn.
Denson testified he arrived armed to defuse the situation, shot Albritton in defense of his brother when he thought Albritton fired/was about to kill Mitchell, and shot Dasher when Dasher ran toward him; he had a weapons carry license.
Jury convicted Denson of felony murder (predicated on aggravated assault), two counts of aggravated assault, and three firearm-possession felonies; Denson moved for a new trial on general grounds.
The trial court granted a new trial under OCGA §§ 5-5-20 and 5-5-21 (finding the verdicts "decidedly and strongly against the weight of the evidence"); the State appealed and the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial court erred by failing to specify factors it considered when granting new trial	Trial court gave no detailed findings explaining why weight of evidence favored new trial	No detailed findings are required; court applied correct legal standard and exercised discretion	No error; presumption trial judge understood and properly exercised discretion; detailed findings not required (affirmed)
Whether trial court abused its discretion granting new trial because evidence was strong and consistent	Eyewitness testimony was strong and largely consistent; facts support jury verdict and law/facts demand affirmance	Trial court, as "thirteenth juror," could weigh credibility and conflicts and conclude verdict was against weight of evidence	No abuse of discretion; judge may credit defense and discount other witnesses; grant of new trial upheld

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes standard for sufficiency review on direct appeal; contrasted here because review under OCGA § 5-5-50 differs)
White v. State, 293 Ga. 523 (trial judge may consider conflicts, credibility, and weight of evidence when sitting as thirteenth juror)
Wilson v. State, 302 Ga. 106 (no authority requires detailed factual findings when granting or denying a new trial on general grounds)
Holmes v. State, 306 Ga. 647 (discusses general‑grounds new-trial discretion and role of presiding judge)
Harris v. State, 292 Ga. 92 (recognizes trial court's broad discretion to grant new trial on weight-of-evidence grounds)