Spiller v. State, 282 Ga. 351

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Marvin Spiller's convictions for felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The court held that his ineffective-assistance claim was barred by a prior habeas corpus determination, and it rejected his challenges to the prosecutor's closing argument, the jury instructions, and the denial of his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal.

Holdings

1. A defendant who elects to litigate an ineffective-assistance claim to a final determination in a habeas proceeding is procedurally barred from relitigating the same claim in a later out-of-time motion for new trial.
2. The prosecutor's argument that the size of the entry wound permitted an inference that the fatal bullet came from Spiller's rifle was permissible because it was derived from evidence properly before the jury.
3. The jury instructions did not constitute reversible error because, read as a whole, they required the jury to acquit if it had a reasonable doubt that Spiller caused the victim's death in the manner alleged.
4. The trial court did not err in denying Spiller's motion for a directed verdict because he moved only on the malice-murder charge, of which he was acquitted; in any event, the evidence was constitutionally sufficient to support the convictions on the remaining charges.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Spiller was entitled to relitigate his ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim in an out-of-time motion for new trial after having litigated and lost the same claim in a habeas proceeding.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by overruling Spiller's objection to the prosecutor's closing-argument inference that the size of the victim's entry wound showed that the fatal bullet came from Spiller's rifle.
3. Whether the jury instructions, considered as a whole, improperly permitted conviction merely because Spiller fired in the victim's direction.
4. Whether the trial court erred in denying Spiller's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal.

Disposition

affirmed