Austin v. State

Summary

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Eric Robius Austin’s convictions arising from the shooting death of his girlfriend, rejecting his challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court’s refusal to give a sudden-emergency instruction. The court vacated the sentence to the extent the firearm-possession conviction was merged into the malice-murder conviction and remanded for resentencing on that count.

Holdings

1. The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Austin guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the charged offenses.
2. The trial court did not err by refusing to give the requested sudden-emergency instruction because the instruction was not adjusted to the evidence.
3. The trial court erred by merging the possession-of-a-firearm-by-a-convicted-felon count into the malice-murder count; the sentence on that count must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Austin's convictions.
2. Whether the trial court erred by refusing to give Austin's requested criminal-law sudden-emergency instruction concerning his possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
3. Whether the trial court improperly merged the possession-of-a-firearm-by-a-convicted-felon count into the malice-murder count for sentencing.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded