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Harris v. State

Defendant who claimed he shot the victims in self-defense was not entitled to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

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Appellant Conniel Rashon Harris appeals his conviction for murder,1 claiming that the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury on voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. We find no error, however, because appellant withdrew his request for the former charge, and the latter charge was not warranted by any evidence introduced at trial. Therefore, we affirm.

The evidence introduced at trial was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude that one evening in April 1998, Stanley Sinkfield and Frank Taylor were traveling in a car in Blackshear, Georgia. Hearing someone shout his name, Sinkfield stopped the car near a group of young men, appellant among them. Stepping away from the group and approaching the car, appellant asked Sinkfield why he had stopped, to which Sinkfield replied that he had heard someone shout his name. Walking toward the car, appellant told Sinkfield, “I ought to come over and slap you in the mouth.” As Sinkfield started to get out of the car, appellant pulled out a gun and began shooting into the car. Several bullets hit Sinkfield, and appellant aimed past Sinkfield and shot Taylor several times while he was still sitting in the car’s passenger seat. Appellant then aimed the gun back at Sinkfield, the gun “clicked” as appellant pulled the trigger, and Sinkfield drove off. Arriving at a nearby police station, Sinkfield got out of the car and collapsed on the station’s steps. Taylor died in the police station parking lot. No weapons were found on either Sinkfield or Taylor.

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