Young v. State, 297 Ga. 737

On Oct. 9, 2009, Marico Young returned to Wynhollow Apartments after an earlier verbal altercation and approached a group that included Terrell Andrews and Gregory Porter; witnesses saw Young jog toward the group and fire multiple shots from near the pool staircase.
Multiple victims were shot; Porter was killed. Young fled and was arrested three days later at his girlfriend’s home.
Police recovered a .40 caliber Heckler & Koch pistol in a closet about seven feet from where Young was found; the murder weapon was not recovered but was proved to be a .40 caliber pistol.
Young was tried jointly with co-defendant Kyle Kee, convicted of malice murder and multiple aggravated assaults (Kee was acquitted), and sentenced to life plus additional terms; felony-murder conviction vacated by operation of law.
On appeal Young challenged (1) the sufficiency of the evidence (arguing witnesses had motives to lie and that he acted in self‑defense) and (2) the trial court’s admission of the .40 caliber Heckler & Koch found at his arrest as evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Young)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to support convictions	Witnesses had motive to lie; evidence didn’t preclude self‑defense	Evidence showed Young fired first, multiple victims shot, Young left unharmed; credibility for jury	Convictions upheld; evidence sufficient when viewed in favor of verdict (Jackson standard)
Admissibility of .40 cal Heckler & Koch found at arrest	Gun was not the murder weapon; admission was irrelevant and prejudicial, suggested propensity to shoot	Circumstances of arrest are admissible and probative; gun matched caliber and arrest was contemporaneous	Admission affirmed; trial court did not abuse discretion (arrest not remote; weapon same caliber and relevant)

Cleveland v. State, 285 Ga. 142 (credibility determinations are for the trier of fact)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Nichols v. State, 282 Ga. 401 (circumstances of arrest admissible even if they place defendant’s character in issue)
Benford v. State, 272 Ga. 348 (admission of such evidence reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Hanes v. State, 294 Ga. 521 (weapon recovered near arrest was probative where similar to murder weapon and arrest not remote)
Manuel v. State, 315 Ga. App. 632 (admissibility of arrest‑related evidence where relevant)
Simmons v. State, 251 Ga. App. 682 (arrest‑time evidence admissible when relevant)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (operation of law vacating felony‑murder upon malice murder conviction)