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Holmes v. State

The omission of a sua sponte charge on the specific forcible felony underlying a defendant's justification charge is not harmful as a matter of law.

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A jury found Denarrda V. Holmes guilty of felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, and the trial court entered a judgment of conviction and sentenced Holmes to life imprisonment. The trial court denied Holmes’ motion for new trial, and he appeals.1

1. Construed so as to support the verdict, the evidence shows that Holmes gave some cocaine to the victim, who left without paying for it. When Holmes followed, the two began shoving each other, and the victim verbally threatened Holmes. Holmes then fatally shot the victim. The occurrence of only a tense confrontation did not justify the shooting. Knight v. State, 271 Ga. 557, 558 1 521 SE2d 819 1999. Likewise, the testimony of defense witnesses that the victim had a gun does not compel the conclusion that Holmes acted in self-defense, when the State’s witnesses testified that the victim did not have a weapon. Russell v. State, 267 Ga. 865, 866 1 485 SE2d 717 1997. The jury chose not to believe the defense witnesses’ account of the shooting. Harris v. State, 267 Ga. 435, 436-437 1 479 SE2d 717 1997. “Witness credibility is to be determined by the jury, OCGA § 24-9-80, as is the question of self-defense when there is conflicting evidence on the issue. Cits.” Russell v. State, supra at 866 1. The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find that Holmes did not act in self-defense when he shot the victim and that he was guilty of felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Knight v. State, supra at 559 1; Harris v. State, supra at 437 1.

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