Threatt v. State, 293 Ga. 549

On Nov. 28, 2009, Robert Gresham was shot multiple times and robbed; cash and marijuana taken from his person and a hide spot.
Three men (Davis, Wyche, and a shorter man later identified as Threatt) went to Gresham’s property; Davis and Threatt said they intended to rob him; Wyche unsuccessfully tried to dissuade them.
Witnesses saw two dark-clothed, masked men with handguns; Gresham was found mortally wounded (two .22 and four .32 caliber wounds).
After the shooting, Wyche picked up Davis and Threatt; Threatt allegedly said “we shot him.” Phone records and post-shooting calls tied Davis and Threatt together; a black jacket from Threatt’s home had gunshot primer residue.
Threatt made demonstrably false statements to investigators and misidentified the driver’s gender before it was disclosed.
Threatt was convicted by a Monroe County jury of felony murder (in commission of armed robbery), unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and unlawful possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; he appealed only the sufficiency of evidence and sentencing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for felony murder and firearm-possession-during-felony	State argued accomplice testimony (Wyche) was corroborated by independent evidence (statements, phone records, jacket residue, witness descriptions)	Threatt argued evidence insufficient to prove he was a participant in the crimes	Court held evidence, viewed in light most favorable to verdict, was sufficient to support convictions; corroboration satisfied legal requirement
Sufficiency of evidence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon	State: physical evidence and association with co-defendant supported this conviction	Threatt did not contest sufficiency for this count	Court agreed evidence sufficient (no further contest)
Applicability of accomplice corroboration rule	State: corroborating evidence (false statements, clothing/residue, witness ID, phone contacts) made accomplice testimony admissible to convict	Threatt: argued accomplice testimony insufficiently corroborated	Court held corroboration was sufficient and need not match every material detail
Sentencing for firearm-possession-during-felony	State imposed 15-year sentence	Threatt argued (on appeal) sentence legal-sufficiency issue; court reviewed sua sponte	Court vacated the 15-year sentence because OCGA § 16-11-106 authorizes only 5 or 10 years; remanded for resentencing

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Johnson v. State, 288 Ga. 803 (accomplice corroboration requirement)
Brown v. State, 291 Ga. 750 (slight extraneous corroboration can suffice)
Floyd v. State, 272 Ga. 65 (corroboration by defendant’s statements)
Guyton v. State, 281 Ga. 789 (clothing/appearance corroboration)
Bush v. State, 267 Ga. 877 (accomplice testimony need not be corroborated in every material particular)
Armour v. State, 290 Ga. 553 (sentencing limits for firearm-possession statutes)
Norris v. State, 289 Ga. 154 (sentencing constraints under similar statutes)
Powell v. State, 289 Ga. 901 (malice vs. felony murder sentencing issue)
Ellis v. State, 292 Ga. 276 (harmlessness of certain sentencing errors)
Mills v. State, 287 Ga. 828 (mootness when no judgment entered on particular counts)
White v. State, 287 Ga. 713 (mootness principles for unchallenged counts)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (merger of offenses for sentencing)
Thomas v. State, 289 Ga. 877 (merger and sentencing principles)
Givens v. State, 273 Ga. 818 (distinguishing accessory after the fact from accomplice)
Moore v. State, 288 Ga. 187 (intent requirements for accomplice liability)
Christian v. State, 277 Ga. 775 (same)