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McDowell v. State

The jury was entitled to disbelieve the defendant's self-serving claims of justification.

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In 2005, Milton McDowell, Jr. was convicted of felony murder and related crimes in connection with the shooting death of his sister Tiara McDowell’s ex-boyfriend, Christopher Champion.1 At trial, the defendant admitted killing Champion but claimed that the killing was legally justified on grounds of self-defense and defense of others. The defendant appeals, arguing as his sole enumeration of error that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the verdict. Finding no merit in this argument, we affirm.2 The incident in question took place on February 17, 2004. The defendant’s sister, Tiara, had been dating and living together on and off with Champion, a drug dealer, for just over a year. The relationship was a violent one, and Tiara had just broken things off. That day, Champion repeatedly made harassing phone calls to her, demanding that she bring him clothes he had left at her apartment. She was scared of Champion and asked the defendant to spend the night with her. Tiara testified at trial that she never told her brother about Champion’s threats against her. According to the defendant, who took the stand at trial, his sister told him only that she needed to talk, and when he inquired about Champion, she said simply that he was getting on her nerves.

Tiara came by in her van and picked up the defendant, his wife, and a 22-month-old nephew. She had Champion’s clothes with her, and the defendant agreed to accompany her to an apartment complex where Champion dealt drugs so that she could drop them off. Champion called Tiara and told her to leave the clothes on the porch of an abandoned apartment, assuring her that he would not be there when she arrived.

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