A jury found Marvin Hill guilty of aggravated assault, and the trial court denied his motion for a new trial. On appeal, Hill enumerates several alleged errors, including that the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury on the principle of no duty to retreat in self-defense cases. We conclude that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to give the charge because self-defense was Hill’s sole defense, the issue of retreat was raised by the evidence, the prosecutor raised the issue of retreat in cross-examining Hill and in closing argument, and the evidence of guilt was not overwhelming. Accordingly, we must reverse Hill’s conviction and remand for a new trial. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. Vadde v. State , 296 Ga. App. 405 674 SE2d 323 2009. So viewed, the evidence showed that the victim was playing basketball in a neighborhood in Fulton County. Hill was in the same neighborhood visiting with some friends who lived a few doors down from where the victim was playing ball. The victim decided that he wanted to go home and approached Hill, who was outside talking with his friends, about getting a ride. Hill did not know the victim except in passing and refused to drive him home. After his refusal, Hill and the victim got into a heated verbal altercation, and each of them threatened to hurt the other.
Once the verbal altercation ended, Hill left the neighborhood in his car to take his friends to the grocery store, while the victim returned to the yard where he was playing basketball. When Hill got back from the store with his friends, the victim was still outside, along with several other individuals. After dropping off his friends, Hill drove back down the street in the same direction that the victim and others were standing. As his car drove past them, someone threw a beer bottle at Hill’s windshield and cracked it. There was conflicting testimony as to whether the victim threw the bottle and where he was standing at the time it was thrown. Hill then deliberately struck the victim with his car. The victim got pinned underneath and was dragged several feet, resulting in severe injuries to his leg and chest.
