Davis v. State

A jury found Scott Winfield Davis guilty of malice murder and two counts of felony murder. The trial court entered judgment of conviction on the malice murder, and sentenced Davis to life imprisonment. The felony murder verdicts were vacated by operation of law. Malcolm v. State , 263 Ga. 369, 372 4 434 SE2d 479 1993. The trial court denied a motion for new trial, and Davis appeals. 1. Construed most strongly to support the verdict, the evidence shows that after two years of marriage, Davis’ wife filed for divorce and moved out of the couple’s home. Davis, who did not want to get divorced, threatened to kill anyone who had a sexual relationship with his wife. Davis’ wife subsequently began dating David Coffin, and Davis hired a private investigator to follow her. Davis asked the investigator to locate Coffin’s home address and telephone number, and after the investigator provided the information to him, Davis said that he was going to drive by Coffin’s residence during the next weekend. That Saturday night, Coffin’s house was burglarized, and his car was stolen. During the burglary, a call was made from Coffin’s home to Davis’ house, and later that night Davis made repeated calls to his wife’s apartment, asking if she was sleeping with Coffin.

Two days after the burglary, Davis called in sick to work, and sometime that night, Coffin was fatally shot inside his house. The next morning, Coffin’s car and other items stolen from his home were found burning near a MARTA station. A gas can and bag found inside the burning car were identified as being similar to items owned by Davis. That night, Coffin’s house was destroyed by arson, and his body was found inside.