State v. Ogunsuyi, 301 Ga. 281

Olubumi Ogunsuyi was indicted for malice murder and related firearm and felon-in-possession charges arising from her January 22, 2015 shooting of Courtney Daniels, Sr.
Ogunsuyi moved pretrial for immunity under OCGA § 16-3-24.2, asserting she fatally shot Daniels in self-defense after he choked her in his truck.
The superior court held a hearing where Ogunsuyi, two investigating officers, the firearms examiner, and the medical examiner testified; exhibits included Ogunsuyi’s videotaped police statement, hotel surveillance video, and photographs.
The superior court found Ogunsuyi credible, concluded she met the preponderance standard for self-defense immunity, and granted immunity from prosecution for all charges.
The State appealed, arguing the superior court improperly relied on an unadmitted, 400+-page discovery packet (doc. no. 17) when assessing credibility and that this extraneous consideration required reversal.
The Georgia Supreme Court agreed the court erred in citing doc. no. 17 but held the error harmless because the same information was introduced at the hearing and the court’s findings were otherwise supported by the admitted evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Ogunsuyi)	Held
Whether the superior court improperly considered extraneous, unadmitted material (doc. no. 17) in granting immunity	The court’s reliance on doc. no. 17 shows it considered material not admitted at the hearing, improperly bolstering credibility findings	The court’s references to doc. no. 17 did not amount to judicial notice of adjudicative facts; hearing evidence sufficed	Error to cite doc. no. 17, but not reversible here (harmless)
Whether the erroneous consideration of doc. no. 17 was prejudicial	The citation likely contributed to the court’s credibility determination and thus to granting immunity	Any use of doc. no. 17 merely summarized evidence already before the court; no prejudice shown	Harmless error — the same facts were in testimony/exhibits; State failed to show harm
Whether record evidence supported the superior court’s credibility and factual findings	N/A (challenged only reliance on extraneous material)	Ogunsuyi pointed to her testimony, video statement, surveillance, witness statements, and prompt reporting as corroboration	Court’s credibility findings are supported by hearing evidence and will be accepted on appeal if any evidence supports them
Proper standard of review for pretrial immunity motions	N/A	N/A	Defendant must prove entitlement to immunity by a preponderance; appellate review accepts trial court fact/credibility findings if any evidence supports them

Anthony v. State, 298 Ga. 827 (defendant bears burden by preponderance for immunity)
Sifuentes v. State, 293 Ga. 441 (appellate deference to trial court credibility findings)
Eubanks v. Rabon, 281 Ga. 708 (judicial notice and harmless-error discussion)
Lindsey v. State, 282 Ga. 447 (harmless-error standard for nonconstitutional error)
Jones v. State, 265 Ga. 84 (harmless-error principles)
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (standard for harmless error of constitutional magnitude)