Appellant Fredrick Terry was found guilty of and sentenced for the felony murder of James Hansell and for the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The State presented evidence that James Hansell died on March 14, 2008, as a result of multiple gunshot wounds he had sustained to his head and torso five days earlier. The county’s associate medical examiner testified that several of the shots entered the victim’s back, and the shot that struck the victim’s head was a “back-to-front” wound. The victim was shot in the early afternoon on March 9 on the grounds of the Fulton County apartment complex at which both he and appellant lived. Two other residents who knew both the victim and appellant identified appellant as the man they heard arguing with the victim outside appellant’s apartment and as the man they saw enter appellant’s apartment, emerge from the apartment carrying a gun, follow the victim who was walking away, and shoot the victim repeatedly. Both witnesses testified they did not see the victim with a weapon. A woman who lived in appellant’s apartment testified that appellant retrieved a gun from the apartment just before the victim was shot. A firearms expert testified that bullets recovered from the victim’s body and from the area where the victim fell after being shot were all fired from the same weapon and, based on gunshot residue on the victim’s clothing, that the shots were fired when the gun was between 36 and 42 inches from the victim. Appellant testified that he had been angry with the victim two days before the shooting because the victim sold him a DVD player that did not work and angrily refused to refund the purchase price; that appellant told the victim immediately before the shooting that he need not return the money and wished blessings on the victim; that the victim threatened appellant, shoved him, and followed him into his apartment; that appellant retrieved his gun, pointed it at the victim, and that the gun started firing repeatedly as the two men “tussled.”
1. The evidence summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and felony murder, with aggravated assault as the underlying felony. Jackson v. Virginia,
2. Appellant takes issue with the content of the jury instructions given by the
(a) Appellant contends the trial court’s presentation of the concepts of justification that serves as a defense to criminal charges and of passion resulting from provocation that could reduce murder to voluntary manslaughter, was done in such a manner that a reasonable juror would not understand the distinction between the two principles. The jury instructions given by the trial court were those found in the suggested pattern jury instructions published by the Council of Superior Courts of Georgia. Appellant suggests that the instructions “blurred the line” between the two concepts and misled the jury in its evaluation of voluntary manslaughter. Appellant maintains the “overly casual” use of the terms “justify” and “justification” in the instructions could have caused the jury to have understood wrongly that limitations on and conditions precedent to the application of the law of justification were also applicable to voluntary manslaughter. In DeLeon v. State,
(b) Citing Russell v. State,
The intent of Edge is to prevent a trial court from authorizing a jury to find a defendant guilty of felony murder without considering evidence of provocation or passion which might authorize a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. Miner v. State,
3. Lastly, appellant argues the trial court committed reversible error when it declined defense counsel’s request to include a recharge on justification in response to the deliberating jury’s request for instructions “in layman’s terms” on the definitions of malice murder, felony murder, and voluntary manslaughter, as well as in response to a later request from the jury for the definition of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The trial court recharged the pattern jury instructions on the elements of each offense.
The trial court did not err when it refused appellant’s request.
When a jury requests additional instructions on a point of law, the trial court in its discretion can recharge in full or limit its recharge to the scope of the jury’s request. [Cits.] It does not abuse its discretion by refusing to charge affirmative defenses when the jury seeks a recharge on the elements of an offense. [Cits.]
Boynton v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The victim was shot on March 9, 2008, and died on March 14 as a result of his wounds. Appellant was arrested on March 19, and the Fulton County grand jury returned a true bill of indictment on June 17 charging appellant with malice and felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Appellant was tried before a jury from February 24 to March 1, 2009. The jury acquitted appellant of malice murder and found him guilty of the remaining charges. After merging the aggravated assault conviction into the felony murder conviction, the trial court sentenced appellant to life imprisonment for felony murder and imposed a suspended five-year sentence for the possession conviction. Appellant’s motion for new trial was timely filed on March 27, 2009, was amended December 3, 2010, was the subject of a hearing held on December 21, and was denied by orders filed June 13,2011, and July 11, 2011. Appellant’s motion for out-of-time appeal, filed August 14, 2011, was granted October 7, and a timely notice of appeal was filed October 13, 2011. The appeal was docketed in this Court to the April 2012 term of court and was submitted for decision on the briefs.