Green v. State

Tarus Malike Green was convicted of felony murder and armed robbery after Gregory Bivin was shot and killed during what appeared to be a gun sale gone wrong. Evidence showed Green's car approached Bivin's vehicle, a friend of Green's had fingerprints at the scene, and a witness told police in a recorded interview that Green confessed to the shooting. A jury in Chatham County Superior Court convicted Green, and he appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Green argued the evidence was too weak to convict him, that the trial judge wrongly let jurors review cell phone records during deliberations that had not been fully explained during trial, and that a witness's earlier statement to police should not have been admitted without giving the witness a proper chance to explain it first. The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected all three arguments, finding the evidence sufficient, the record review proper because the evidence had been formally admitted, and the witness statement properly admitted because the legal foundation requirement was met. The court affirmed the conviction.

The court held that the evidence, including a car linked to Green, a witness's fingerprints, and a recorded confession, was sufficient to sustain the felony murder conviction; that properly admitted documentary evidence like cell phone records may go to the jury during deliberations even without detailed trial explanation; and that a witness's denial of memory of a prior statement satisfies the foundation requirement for admitting that statement.

The decision reinforces that Georgia jurors can review any properly admitted evidence during deliberations even if it was not walked through in detail at trial, and that witnesses who claim memory loss about prior statements can still have those statements used against them, guiding future trial practice statewide.

Affirmed

1. The court applied the constitutional sufficiency-of-the-evidence standard, which asks whether any rational jury could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, viewing evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict without reweighing it.
2. Applying that standard, the court found that Green's car was used in the approach to the victim, a co-participant's fingerprints were on the victim's car, and a witness's recorded statement had Green admitting to the shooting, together supporting the felony murder conviction based on armed robbery.
3. On the cell phone records issue, the court explained that properly admitted original documentary evidence, meaning evidence formally entered into the trial record such as the phone record CDs Green himself moved into evidence, may be given to the jury during deliberations even if not published or explained in detail during trial.
4. On the witness statement issue, the court applied Georgia's evidence rule on prior inconsistent statements (O.C.G.A. § 24-6-613 (b)), which requires that a witness first be given a chance to explain or deny a prior statement before that statement can be used as outside evidence against him.
5. The court found this foundation requirement was satisfied because the witness, Milton, was asked twice about his earlier statement to police and first claimed no memory, then admitted he remembered but had lied, which is enough under prior Georgia cases to allow the recorded interview into evidence.

• felony murder conviction
• armed robbery
• jury deliberations evidence
• prior inconsistent statement
• Chatham County