Ware v. State, 305 Ga. 457

On July 25, 2009 Vernon Forrest was robbed at gunpoint by Demario Ware at a Chevron; Ware admitted the robbery. Shortly after, Charmon Sinkfield shot and killed Forrest while Forrest pursued Ware to recover stolen items.
Ware, J'Quante Crews, and Sinkfield were indicted on multiple counts; Ware was tried separately in Aug. 2011.
The jury convicted Ware of felony murder predicated on armed robbery and of armed robbery; Ware received life without parole for felony murder.
Ware appealed, arguing (1) the trial court should have given a specific proximate-causation jury instruction he requested, and (2) the court erred by excusing a juror during deliberations and replacing her with an alternate.
The trial court had instructed using the statutory felony-murder definition and Georgia’s pattern felony-murder jury instruction; the court also considered the juror’s prearranged travel, cost to change flights, and the trial’s extended length before excusing her.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court erred by refusing Ware’s requested proximate-causation jury instruction	Ware: the jury needed an explicit proximate-cause instruction (including Skaggs language) to evaluate that Sinkfield’s independent shooting broke causal chain	State: the statutory definition plus the pattern felony-murder charge and related instructions adequately informed the jury about causation and party liability	Affirmed — no error; instructions as a whole sufficiently covered proximate causation and party liability
Whether the trial court abused discretion by excusing a juror during deliberations and replacing with an alternate	Ware: excusal was improper because defense offered to pay to rebook the juror’s flight (through the court) and juror initially did not express hardship at voir dire	State: juror had prearranged travel, could not guarantee deliberations wouldn’t continue into her scheduled absence, and the court properly exercised discretion under OCGA § 15-12-172	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion; good cause existed to replace juror during deliberations

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
Crews v. State, 300 Ga. 104 (review of evidence sufficiency in related case)
Skaggs v. State, 278 Ga. 19 (discussion of intervening causes and causation analysis)
Brown v. State, 297 Ga. 685 (holding that charge as a whole can sufficiently convey proximate-causation requirement)
Pecina v. State, 274 Ga. 416 (explaining appellate explanatory language not always suitable for jury charge)
Butler v. State, 290 Ga. 412 (trial court’s discretion to remove juror for good cause)
Laguerre v. State, 301 Ga. 122 (consideration of jurors’ reasonable expectation of discharge)
Cummings v. State, 280 Ga. 831 (totality-of-circumstances review of juror removal)