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Mosley v. State

Defendant's possession of a knife at school supported his felony murder conviction because the knife escalated the defendant's schoolyard fight with the victim into a homicide.

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A jury found Lyndon Dechard Mosley guilty of voluntary manslaughter and felony murder in connection with the stabbing death of Ronald Gaines at Southwest DeKalb High School.1 Mosley contends that the offense of possession of a weapon on school property under OCGA § 16-11-127.1 is not inherently dangerous and therefore should not serve as the basis for his conviction and sentence for felony murder. Because we conclude that Mosley’s possession of a weapon on school property was dangerous under the circumstances in this case, we affirm.

1. The evidence presented at trial shows that Mosley, then a 14-year-old student, and 16-year-old Gaines, a junior, exchanged words and then argued for several minutes next to the athletic field behind the school during the last period of school. As the confrontation continued in front of a crowd of students, Mosley pulled a knife from his pants pocket and Gaines picked up a rock. Gaines threw the rock down and started to walk away, but someone challenged him to stay and fight. Gaines then turned around and went towards Mosley, swinging at him. Mosley stabbed Gaines once in the chest; he exchanged high fives with a friend before running from the scene. Saying he had been stabbed, Gaines was helped up a flight of steps before he collapsed next to a school building. The pathologist testified that the knife had penetrated Gaines’ heart and lungs and he bled to death within minutes of the stabbing. After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s determination of guilt, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Mosley guilty of the crimes charged.2

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