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Stockford v. State

The trial court's error in charging that the jury could infer intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon was harmless, given the overwhelming evidence of defendant's malice.

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A jury convicted Larry Edward Stockford of murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of his roommate Scott Curtis Chestnut.1 Stockford contends that he is entitled to a new trial based on the trial court’s error in instructing the jury that the law infers the intent to kill from the use of a deadly weapon. Although the giving of the charge was improper under Harris v. State,2 we hold that the error was harmless because the evidence of malice was overwhelming. Therefore, we affirm Stockford’s convictions.

1. The evidence presented at trial shows that four Midtown Atlanta residents heard two gunshots fired outside their homes one night. One witness looked out her window and saw a man running down the street yelling, “He’s got a gun.” Another witness looked out his front door and saw a man with a gun run up onto the porch, grab another man by the collar, and shoot three more times. Two residents who lived across the street saw the shooter standing over the victim, who was lying halfway up the porch steps, and fire the gun three times. When a resident drove up and confronted the shooter, he jumped over the porch banister and ran down the street. Within minutes, a police officer stopped Stockford, but he took off running again. Stockford was finally captured when he tripped and fell on a sidewalk; police recovered the .38 caliber revolver used in the shooting from Stockford’s front breast pocket. The medical examiner testified that Chestnut died from gunshot wounds to his chest, back, and leg.

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