Jones v. State

537 S.E.2d 80 (2000)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D asked David Zellars to help him buy crack cocaine. Zellars directed D to the home of Jerry Zellner and Horace Lawson. Zellars purchased drugs from Lawson, and D and Zellars then drove away. Later that evening, D returned alone to the home. Gunshots were exchanged, and Jerry Zellner and Horace Lawson were killed. D was shot twice and sought medical attention at Grady Hospital. D said that he had been kidnapped and robbed by two men, including David Zellars, and forced to drive to the home of Jerry Zellner and Horace Lawson, where D was shot. A bullet removed from D's body matched the caliber of the rifle that Jerry Zellner was holding when he was fatally shot. Ballistics testing showed that the bullets removed from Jerry Zellner's body could have come from either: (1) a .9 mm pistol, such as the one owned by D's wife that was found after the murder discarded along an interstate highway ramp near Grady Hospital, or (2) a .380 pistol, such as the one recovered after the murder from D's car. P charged D with felony murder. D pled not guilty. During trial, a neighbor of the victims testified that the neighbor’s home was in Fulton County, Georgia. There was no evidence that the victims’ home was similarly located in Fulton County. The jury found D guilty of felony murder and D appealed arguing that P failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that venue was properly in Fulton County.