Smith v. The State

The trial court erred in refusing to give defendant's requested jury charge on the lesser included offense of vehicular homicide in the second degree in his trial for vehicular homicide in the first degree so the Court reversed his conviction and remanded for a new trial.

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Rickman, Judge.Following a jury trial, Quincy Alexander Smith was convicted of homicide by vehicle in the first degree for causing the death of another person while driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams or more (DUI-per se). He argues, among other things, that the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of homicide by vehicle in the second degree and in admitting extrinsic act evidence. For the following reasons, we reverse Smith’s conviction and remand this case for a new trial.

On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to support the jury’s verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. We do not weigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the witnesses, but determine only whether the evidence authorized the jury to find the defendant guilty of the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt in accordance with the standard set forth in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LEd2d 560) (1979). (Citation omitted.) Laster v. State, 340 Ga. App. 96, 97 (796 SE2d 484) (2017).So construed, the evidence adduced at trial showed that shortly after 7:00 a.m. on March 1, 2015, Smith was returning home from dropping off his wife and children at a friend’s house. There was a light, misty rain and a low fog at that time. Upon returning to his subdivision, Smith turned left into the path of a motorcycle being driven by the victim, resulting in the motorcycle colliding with the rear passenger side of Smith’s vehicle. The victim was killed in the collision.The ensuing investigation revealed that Smith had been consuming alcohol the previous night and had returned home sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. He slept before being awakened to transport his wife and children.

Smith v. The State

The trial court erred in refusing to give defendant's requested jury charge on the lesser included offense of vehicular homicide in the second degree in his trial for vehicular homicide in the first degree so the Court reversed his conviction and remanded for a new trial.

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