Welch v. State, 306 Ga. 470

In Sept. 2011 Welch entered his landlord Jamie Wright’s home through an unlocked window intending to burglarize it; he found a loaded .38 and placed it in his waistband.
Wright returned while Welch was in the house; Welch stepped toward the kitchen with the pistol, stepped on a dish, Wright confronted him, and Welch fired, killing her.
Evidence recovered: Wright’s truck taken and later found with Welch; Wright’s personal documents and receipts in Welch’s possession; gloves and a .38 revolver (forensic testing linked the fatal shot to that gun).
Welch confessed at arrest, saying the shooting was accidental and the gun “just went off,” and guided police to the spent casing.
Indictment included malice murder, felony murder (aggravated assault), aggravated assault, burglary, firearm offenses, thefts, identity fraud, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; Welch pleaded guilty pre-verdict to possession by a felon.
Jury convicted Welch of malice murder and other counts; trial court merged/affected felony-murder/aggravated-assault counts for sentencing; Welch obtained an out-of-time appeal and challenged sufficiency for malice murder and the refusal to charge involuntary manslaughter.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Welch)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for malice murder	Evidence showed shooting was accidental; no proof of intent to kill	Circumstantial and direct evidence (finger on trigger, pointing at victim, admitted intent to burglarize) permitted inference of malice or implied malice	Affirmed: evidence sufficient to support malice murder conviction
Whether trial court erred by refusing involuntary manslaughter instruction	Requested instruction on reckless/unintentional killing; evidence supported lesser-included reckless theory	Under controlling law, underlying unlawful act causing the death must be non-felony for involuntary-manslaughter-by-unlawful-act; here underlying acts were felonies	Affirmed: no duty to charge involuntary manslaughter; request properly refused

Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (vacating redundant felony-murder sentence where convictions merge) (1993)
Moran v. State, 302 Ga. 162 (malice may be shown by implied malice; proof that defendant knew conduct was substantially certain to cause death) (2017)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency review: whether any rational trier of fact could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt) (1979)
Bryson v. Jackson, 299 Ga. 751 (trial court must give written request for lesser included offense if any evidence supports it) (2016)
Mills v. State, 287 Ga. 828 (mootness where merged/vacated counts not sentenced) (2010)
Hood v. State, 303 Ga. 420 (no involuntary manslaughter charge where underlying unlawful act was a felony) (2018)
Springer v. State, 297 Ga. 376 (involuntary manslaughter can be a lesser-included offense of felony murder in appropriate circumstances) (2015)