Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Robert Lee Hines's convictions, including felony murder predicated on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, arising from the accidental shooting death of a hunting companion. The court held that Georgia does not recognize an inconsistent-verdict rule and that, under the circumstances, Hines's felonious firearm possession was an inherently dangerous felony supporting felony murder. The court also rejected challenges concerning expert testimony, mistake of fact, jury instructions, evidentiary rulings, and trial procedure. A dissenting opinion concluded that the firearm possession was not inherently dangerous under the circumstances.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the guilty and not-guilty verdicts on related felony-murder counts were impermissibly inconsistent.
- Whether Hines's possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, under the circumstances of the shooting, was an inherently dangerous felony capable of supporting felony murder.
- Whether the trial court improperly admitted Ranger Greg Hall's opinion testimony concerning the permissibility of Hines's shot.
- Whether the evidence authorized rejection of Hines's mistake-of-fact defense.
- Whether the trial court committed reversible error in its rulings concerning the medical examiner's testimony, bifurcation, indictment references, photographs, jury instructions, verdict-form charge, and jury recharges.
Holdings
- Georgia does not recognize an inconsistent-verdict rule permitting a defendant to challenge a guilty verdict on one count as inconsistent with an acquittal on another related count.
- Under the circumstances presented, Hines's illegal possession of a firearm created a foreseeable risk of death and therefore constituted an inherently dangerous felony capable of supporting a felony-murder conviction.
- The trial court did not err in admitting Ranger Hall's opinion that Hines's shot was not permissible or allowable because Hall was qualified to offer the opinion as an expert, and the testimony did not invade the jury's province.
- The evidence authorized the jury to reject Hines's mistake-of-fact defense because his mistaken belief that the victim was a turkey resulted from his own fault in taking an unsafe shot under unsafe conditions at a target he had not positively identified.
- The evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Hines guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted.
Key quotations
“Georgia does not recognize an inconsistent verdict rule” (276 Ga. at 492)
“Under these circumstances, we conclude that Hines's illegal possession of a firearm created a foreseeable risk of death.” (276 Ga. at 493)
“Accordingly, the jury was authorized to reject Hines's mistake of fact defense.” (276 Ga. at 495)
Factual background
While turkey hunting at dusk, Hines fired a shotgun through heavy foliage at a target approximately eighty feet away without positively identifying it as a turkey, fatally striking his friend Steven Wood. Hines knew other hunters and visitors were in the area, had been drinking before and possibly during the hunt, and later concealed his shotgun, clothing, and hunting gear. He eventually admitted shooting Wood and directed police to the hidden shotgun.
Procedural history
A grand jury indicted Hines on two counts of felony murder and several related firearm, evidence-tampering, and false-statement charges. The jury acquitted him of one felony-murder count and convicted him of the remaining charged offenses. The trial court merged the felon-in-possession conviction into the felony-murder conviction, imposed life imprisonment for felony murder, imposed a consecutive five-year sentence for possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and imposed concurrent sentences on the remaining convictions. The trial court denied Hines's motion for new trial, and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed.