State v. Williams

The defendant's previous acquittal of malice murder did not bar her retrial from the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter using the original indictment, as long as the next jury does not know about the murder charge.

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After Tosha Williams was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of malice murder, the trial court granted her a new trial. William’s subsequent plea in bar was denied, and she pled guilty to aggravated assault. Her conviction for aggravated assault and the denial of her plea in bar were overturned on appeal. See Williams v. State, 288 Ga. 7 700 SE2d 564 2010. Following remittitur, she contended that the State was barred from retrying her for voluntary manslaughter. The trial court subsequently dismissed the indictment against Williams. The State appeals. Although prosecution of Williams for malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault is barred by double jeopardy, and these are the only offenses specified in the indictment, the State contends that Williams’s previous acquittal of malice murder did not bar her retrial for the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter using the original indictment. For the reasons set forth below, we agree and reverse.

This case has a convoluted procedural history. The record shows that the Jenkins County grand jury indicted Williams for committing the crimes of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault by running over her fianc with a motor vehicle on August 29, 2004. Following a jury trial, Williams was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, felony murder, and aggravated assault. The jury also found Williams not guilty of malice murder and involuntary manslaughter. The trial court sentenced Williams to serve 20 years for voluntary manslaughter. The trial court vacated the jury’s verdict on felony murder in light of the modified merger rule adopted in Edge v. State, 261 Ga. 865 414 SE2d 463 1992, and it merged the aggravated assault conviction into the voluntary manslaughter conviction. See OCGA § 16-1-7.

State v. Williams

The defendant's previous acquittal of malice murder did not bar her retrial from the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter using the original indictment, as long as the next jury does not know about the murder charge.

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