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State v. Sutton

The defendant acted in self-defense in shooting his brother-in-law and was thus immune from prosecution under O.C.G.A. § 16-3-24.2; accordingly, the trial court properly dismissed the murder indictment against him.

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The State indicted appellee Jerry Sutton for malice murder in connection with the shooting of his brother-in-law, William Anderson. The trial court subsequently granted appellee’s motion to dismiss the indictment, finding that appellee acted in self-defense in shooting Anderson, see OCGA § 16-3-21,1 and was thus immune from prosecution under OCGA § 16-3-24.2.2 On appeal, the State asserts that, for several reasons, the trial court erred in granting appellee’s motion to dismiss. We affirm.

1. To prevail on his immunity claim, appellee was required to establish his justification defense under § 16-3-21 by a preponderance of the evidence. See Sifuentes v. State, 293 Ga. 441, 444 746 SE2d 127 2013. The trial court held a pre-trial hearing on appellee’s immunity motion and later entered detailed findings of fact in granting it. On appeal of an order granting or denying immunity under OCGA § 16-3-24.2, “we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s ruling, and we accept the trial court’s findings with regard to questions of fact and credibility if there is any evidence to support them.” Hipp v. State, 293 Ga. 415, 418 746 SE2d 95 2013 citation and quotation marks omitted.

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