JONES v. THE STATE.
S18A1026
Supreme Court of Georgia
August 20, 2018
304 Ga. 320
FINAL COPY
Appellant Corey Jones was convicted of malice murder and two firearm offenses in connection with the shooting death of Tywanna Boyd. On appeal, he contends only that the evidence presented at his trial was legally insufficient to support his convictions. We disagree and affirm.1
1.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence presented at the trial showed the following. Appellant and Boyd began a tumultuous romantic relationship about nine months before her death. Her roommate testified that Appellant was physically abusive toward Boyd and, on
At 3:41 p.m. that day—March 24, 2014—Appellant called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been shot on the left-hand shoulder of I-20 westbound near the I-285 interchange in Fulton County. Paramedics arrived and took Boyd to a hospital; she had been shot once in the left side of her back, and she died from the gunshot later that day.
Appellant told the police officers who responded to the 911 call that “Little Tic,” a man who he said had recently shot at him, was pursuing Boyd and Appellant down the expressway, and when Boyd pulled over to see if Little Tic would pass, the man also stopped, got out of his car, shot at Appellant but hit Boyd, and then drove away. The officers had Appellant wait in a police car while they searched the area, eventually locating a .357 magnum revolver under some nearby trees. The revolver had one spent shell casing and five live rounds in the cylinder. Appellant was then taken to a police station for questioning. When he was briefly left alone in the interview room, he attempted to commit
At trial, two witnesses who were driving together on I-20 at the time of the shooting testified that they heard the sound of the gunshot and saw a man standing outside the front passenger side of Boyd‘s car and a person falling to the ground; one of the witnesses also saw the man pointing a gun at the person. The man was wearing clothes similar to those worn by Appellant at the time. A ballistics expert testified that the bullet found in Boyd‘s body was fired from the revolver found at the crime scene and that the gun required 10.25 pounds of trigger-pressure to fire if it was in “double-action” mode (with the hammer not cocked). A DNA expert testified that Appellant‘s DNA was found on the grip of the revolver. The State also presented evidence that Little Tic was meeting with his probation officer at the time of the shooting.
Appellant elected to testify, and he told the jury a story very different from the tale he had told the police on the day of the shooting. Appellant now admitted to shooting Boyd, but claimed it was an accident. On the day of the shooting, Appellant said, he was arguing with Boyd about some drugs he was missing when the couple left their apartment to take her car to a mechanic. Boyd was driving and Appellant was in the passenger‘s seat; they continued
2.
Under
As this Court has often explained, however, “‘it is the role of the jury to resolve conflicts in the evidence and to determine the credibility of witnesses, and the resolution of such conflicts adversely to the defendant does not render the evidence insufficient.‘” Graham v. State, 301 Ga. 675, 677 (804 SE2d 113) (2017) (citation omitted). As summarized above, when viewed in the light most favorable to the jury‘s verdicts, the evidence showed that Appellant, who had multiple felony convictions, had a history of violence toward Boyd, and the
Judgment affirmed. Hines, C. J., Melton, P. J., Benham, Hunstein, Blackwell, Boggs, and Peterson, JJ., concur.
Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge McBurney.
Chaunda Brock, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder, Michael V. Snow, Burke O. Doherty, Assistant District Attorneys; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Matthew M. Youn, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.