Troy v. State, 312 Ga. 860

In March 2016 Tony Saffo was shot and killed; Tevision Troy was indicted on malice murder, felony murder counts, aggravated assault, and multiple firearm offenses, tried in March 2017, and convicted on all counts.
Troy was sentenced to life without parole for malice murder and additional consecutive prison terms for firearm convictions; some counts were vacated or merged post-trial.
Witnesses placed Troy at the scene, testified he left and returned with a gun, heard multiple shots, and one eyewitness said Troy continued shooting while Saffo lay on the ground; cell‑tower data contradicted Troy’s denial of presence; no gun was recovered.
The State introduced evidence of a separate 1998 shooting in which Troy shot a different victim with the same gun; ballistic evidence linked the two shootings and Troy previously pleaded guilty to charges from the 1998 incident.
Troy argued the 1998 evidence was inadmissible under OCGA § 24‑4‑404(b) (Rule 404(b)) and § 24‑4‑403 (Rule 403) and that it should have been excluded as extrinsic evidence or as unduly prejudicial; the trial court admitted it as intrinsic.
The Supreme Court of Georgia held that, even assuming any error in admitting the 1998 evidence under Rule 404(b) or Rule 403, the error was harmless given the overwhelming remaining evidence, and affirmed the convictions.

Issue	Troy's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Admissibility of 1998 shooting evidence (intrinsic vs. Rule 404(b))	1998 incident was a separate, distinct event and not intrinsic; its admission should be subject to Rule 404(b) limits	Evidence tended to prove identity/weapon link and was intrinsic to the charged offense	Court did not reach merits; treated any admission error as harmless and affirmed
Rule 403 undue prejudice from 1998 evidence	Probative value was substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice and propensity inference	Probative value (identity/weapon) outweighed any prejudice; any prejudice was not unfair	Even if admission violated Rule 403, error was harmless given remaining evidence; conviction affirmed

Boothe v. State, 293 Ga. 285 (2013) (establishes harmless‑error standard: nonconstitutional error is harmless if highly probable it did not contribute to verdict)
Peoples v. State, 295 Ga. 44 (2014) (explains reviewing court must weigh remaining evidence as reasonable jurors would, not solely in favor of verdict)
Dixon v. State, 302 Ga. 691 (2017) (court ordinarily declines to correct trial court merger errors that favor defendants)
Perez v. State, 303 Ga. 188 (2018) (on harmless review, court must set aside evidence admitted in error and review remaining evidence de novo)