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Griffin v. State

A showing of a simple buy-sell drug transaction, without more, does not support a conviction for conspiracy.

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Tommy Tyrone Griffin was convicted of felony murder and conspiracy to commit trafficking in cocaine in connection with a fatal shooting in a Gwinnett County apartment in April 2010.1 Griffin appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and the trial court’s instructions to the jury. Our review of the record reveals that the State failed to adduce any evidence on an essential element of the drug conspiracy charge and therefore that his conviction for conspiracy to commit trafficking in cocaine must be reversed. Because the felony murder conviction was predicated on the drug conspiracy offense, this conviction must, in turn, be reversed as well.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdicts, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. On April 8, 2010, Griffin and two other men drove to a Gwinnett County apartment with $4,000 for the purpose of purchasing drugs. When the men entered the apartment, a shootout erupted, involving at least two different guns. Griffin was shot in the abdomen, and two of the apartment’s occupants were shot, one of whom died from his wounds. Everyone present at the shootout fled.

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