Rogers v. State

Although the trial court erred in refusing the defendant's request to charge the jury on unlawful act involuntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of murder, the error was harmless because there was overwhelming evidence inconsistent with the defendant's version of events and supportive of the jury's finding of guilt as to malice murder.

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After a jury trial, Appellant Caesar Octavious Rogers was found guilty of malice murder, burglary, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment for malice murder, a concurrent 20-year term for burglary, a five-year consecutive term for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and a concurrent five-year term for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Appellant appeals after the denial of a motion for new trial. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that on October 13, 2008, Appellant Caesar Octavious Rogers and others were watching a group of men play checkers. The victim, Clayton Bernard Carter, was also present and approached Appellant with the purpose of buying drugs. Appellant refused to make the sale because the victim had an unpaid debt for past drug purchases. A heated argument ensued between Appellant and the victim that lasted several minutes. The verbal altercation ended with the victim leaving the location to retrieve a .38 caliber revolver from his residence. The victim returned to the location with the revolver and fired it one or two times into the air. Appellant called someone on his cell phone and said to “bring that,” and a witness who overheard the telephone call believed that Appellant meant to bring a gun.

Shortly after the above described altercation, the victim returned home and Appellant was observed approaching the victim’s residence with his hands concealed in his jacket. Appellant walked down the side of the victim’s residence, peeked around, and then doubled back. Minutes later the victim’s neighbor heard a gunshot coming from the vicinity of the victim’s residence. Another neighbor witnessed Appellant run down an alley behind the residence and get into the back seat of a waiting car that drove away from the scene.

Rogers v. State

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