Riley v. State

A jury found Delicia Riley guilty of malice murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of cocaine. The trial court sentenced her to life imprisonment for the murder and to a concurrent ten-year term for the drug offense and merged the weapons charge into the murder conviction. But see Jackson v. State, 267 Ga. 130 2 475 SE2d 637 1996. She appeals from the judgments of conviction and sentences entered by the trial court on the jury’s guilty verdicts.1

1. Ms. Riley and Areka Glenn once had a lesbian relationship, but Ms. Glenn ended it and began a heterosexual affair with Bradley Whatley. Upon learning of this, Ms. Riley threatened to beat and even to kill Mr. Whatley. Early one morning, she armed herself and went to his house seeking Ms. Glenn. She pounded on his door for a considerable time before he opened it. When she discovered that Ms. Glenn was there, a heated argument ensued. According to Ms. Riley, Mr. Whatley struck her with his hand. As he turned to go back inside, Ms. Riley killed him by shooting him in the back of his head. Officers arrested her a short time later, at which time she was in possession of the gun and cocaine. In her in-custody statement, she claimed that she did not go to the victim’s house with the intent to kill him, but to kill herself. She also stated that, when he indicated that he too had a gun and turned to go inside, she shot him before he could get his weapon. He was not armed at the time of the homicide, and no gun was found in his residence.