Appellant Fredrick Terry was found guilty of and sentenced for the felony murder of James Hansell and for the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.1 In his appeal from the judgment of conviction, appellant contends the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury.
The State presented evidence that James Hansell died on March 14, 2008, as a result of multiple gunshot wounds he had sustained to his head and torso five days earlier. The county’s associate medical examiner testified that several of the shots entered the victim’s back, and the shot that struck the victim’s head was a “back-to-front” wound. The victim was shot in the early afternoon on March 9 on the grounds of the Fulton County apartment complex at which both he and appellant lived. Two other residents who knew both the victim and appellant identified appellant as the man they heard arguing with the victim outside appellant’s apartment and as the man they saw enter appellant’s apartment, emerge from the apartment carrying a gun, follow the victim who was walking away, and shoot the victim repeatedly. Both witnesses testified they did not see the victim with a weapon. A woman who lived in appellant’s apartment testified that appellant retrieved a gun from the apartment just before the victim was shot. A firearms expert testified that bullets recovered from the victim’s body and from the area where the victim fell after being shot were all fired from the same weapon and, based on gunpowder residue on the victim’s clothing, that the shots were fired when the gun was between 36 and 42 inches from the victim. Appellant testified that he had been angry with the victim two days before the shooting because the victim sold him a DVD player that did not work and angrily refused to refund the purchase price; that appellant told the victim immediately before the shooting that he need not return the money and wished blessings on the victim; that the victim threatened appellant, shoved him, and followed him into his apartment; that appellant retrieved his gun, pointed it at the victim, and that the gun started firing repeatedly as the two men “tussled.”
