Williams v. State, 293 Ga. 750

December 2010: Clifford McArthur found shot to death in his apartment; autopsy showed two gunshot wounds to the head.
McArthur’s nephew Christopher Ward and Tony Williams were indicted; Williams later pled guilty to being a probationer in possession of a firearm and was tried on remaining counts.
Witness Thomas, working with police, bought a .22 handgun from Ward that Williams retrieved from a drainage culvert; Ward had said in her presence they “didn’t want to never do what they did last Thursday again,” and Williams replied, “I know right.”
Williams gave multiple statements to police: initially denied presence, then admitted accompanying Ward to the apartment, placing the gun in a ditch, and later (after arrest and Miranda warnings) admitted being in the apartment when Ward shot McArthur twice and urging a second shot; he also admitted taking prescription narcotics.
Jury convicted Williams of malice murder, armed robbery, burglary, possession of a firearm during a felony, tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm by a first-offender probationer; sentences include life with parole possibility plus consecutive and concurrent terms.
Posttrial, Williams challenged sufficiency of evidence, admission of alleged co-conspirator hearsay, and the State’s method of impeaching two State witnesses; the trial court denied relief and the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issue	Williams' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for convictions	Evidence insufficient to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt	Evidence (confessions, weapon concealment, sale, corroborating facts) supports convictions	Affirmed — evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia standard
Admission of co-conspirator statements (Thomas’s testimony of Ward and Williams’ exchange)	Statements were hearsay and inadmissible; trial should have required prima facie conspiracy showing before admission	Prima facie conspiracy may be shown by independent evidence at any time before close of evidence; independent proof existed (weapon concealment, admissions)	Affirmed — statements admissible under former OCGA § 24-3-5 because conspiracy proven by independent evidence
Reliability requirement for co-conspirator statements	Trial court failed to evaluate reliability of statements	No contemporaneous objection on reliability grounds at trial	Not preserved on appeal; claim rejected
Method of impeachment of State witnesses	State improperly impeached its witnesses via investigator testimony rather than questioning witnesses directly	Defense objected only on hearsay grounds at trial, not on method of impeachment; cannot raise new objection on appeal	Not preserved; appellate challenge fails; impeachment testimony admissible

Stratacos v. State, 293 Ga. 401 (sufficiency review standard cited)
Spiller v. State, 282 Ga. 351 (sufficiency standard authority)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (constitutional sufficiency standard)
Thorpe v. State, 285 Ga. 604 (co-conspirator statements admissible if prima facie conspiracy proved by evidence independent of the statements before close of evidence)
Darville v. State, 289 Ga. 698 (conspiracy may be inferred from acts and conduct)
Livingston v. State, 271 Ga. 714 (discussed by appellant re: co-conspirator hearsay rule)
Dyer v. State, 287 Ga. 137 (preservation rule: objections not raised at trial cannot be asserted on appeal)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (merger and sentencing principles invoked)