Huff v. State
| Decision Date | 07 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | S22A1266 |
| Parties | HUFF v. THE STATE |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Appellant Jazzy Huff was convicted of felony murder and related offenses in connection with the August 2019 shooting death of Zenas Lee Davis.[1] On appeal, Appellant contends that (1) insufficient evidence supported his convictions; (2) the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence that Appellant held a firearm "gangster style" prior to firing the gun; (3) the trial court erred in admitting irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence that Appellant held the firearm the way an armed robber might hold a firearm; (4) he was deprived of an impartial jury because jurors had improper, unsupervised contact with the victim's family during deliberations; (5) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to irrelevant, improper, and prejudicial character evidence; and (6) the cumulative effect of the trial court's evidentiary errors and trial counsel's ineffective assistance unfairly prejudiced Appellant and deprived him of his right to due process and a fair trial. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
1. Appellant first asserts that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient as a matter of constitutional due process to sustain his convictions because the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was not justified in using self-defense. We disagree.
The evidence presented at trial showed the following. On the morning of August 21, 2019, Appellant, who owned Jazzy Movers, met to discuss an upcoming job opportunity with a group of independent contractors, including Davis, outside Jazzy Movers' headquarters in Albany, Georgia. During this meeting, Appellant informed the contractors that the job entailed packing and moving furniture at a location in Moultrie, Georgia. Appellant further informed the contractors that they would be paid for their services on Friday, August 23. The contractors were then transported to the job site which was approximately 30 minutes away.
Two hours after the contractors began packing furniture Appellant observed Davis sitting on the back of the moving truck. When Appellant asked Davis why he was not working Davis told Appellant that "he was tired" because he had been "working all day." Davis then requested that Appellant pay him $20 for the two hours he had worked. Appellant reiterated that Davis would be paid on Friday, at which point a disagreement ensued. Davis demanded that Appellant drive him back to Albany so that he could discuss receiving his payment with Appellant's business partners. Appellant then drove Davis and one other contractor, Jay Barron, back to Jazzy Movers' headquarters. Barron testified that, during the car ride, Davis was angry and cursing but did not threaten Appellant.
When Appellant parked the car in front of Jazzy Movers' headquarters, Davis refused to get out before Appellant because "he didn't want [Appellant] to drive off." Appellant and Barron then got out of the car, walked into the building, and proceeded onto the elevator toward the second floor. Davis entered the building behind them but took the stairs. While on the elevator, Appellant told Barron to "pull out [his] phone and [start] record[ing], just in case something happened." Appellant testified that he had asked Barron to begin recording because he was concerned that Davis might file a worker's compensation claim. Although Appellant believed at the time that Barron was recording only audio, Barron in fact recorded a video, which was later played for the jury at trial.
The video showed the following. Appellant walked across a large room into an adjoining smaller room with Davis following him. After Davis entered the smaller room, Appellant turned around to face him and said, "You will get your check on Friday, man." For the next minute, Appellant and Davis argued back and forth, with Davis cursing and Appellant threatening to call security. Appellant then walked out into the larger adjoining room with his back facing Davis.
Davis immediately followed him out while stating, "What if I f***ing swing on you?" As Davis continued walking in a straight line toward the exit, Appellant took two small steps to the right while quickly turning to face Davis, pulling out a .40-caliber pistol, and racking the slide. Appellant then pointed the pistol at Davis's chest, holding the pistol with the handgrip horizontal to the ground and said, "Let's go then, man." In response, Davis turned and started walking toward Appellant while repeatedly saying, "F***ing shoot me, bro." Meanwhile, Appellant lowered the firearm to his side and held out his other hand toward Davis while telling him several times to "back up."
Davis stopped walking toward Appellant but continued arguing. As Davis briefly turned to look at Barron, he asked Appellant, "Did you just pull your f***ing gun on me?" Appellant then said Davis's name, at which point Davis turned back toward Appellant, took a half step in Appellant's direction with his arms lowered and his chest puffed up, and asked again, "Did you just pull your f***ing . . . ?" Before Davis could finish his question, Appellant opened fire on Davis, shooting multiple rounds in quick succession as Davis grabbed his chest, turned away, and fell to the floor.
After falling to the ground, Davis dropped from his hand a small, yellow object, which was later identified as a lighter. Stepping out of view of the camera, Appellant can be heard on the recording calling 9-1-1 and telling the operator, "Sir, I just shot somebody." Following the operator's directions, Appellant performed chest compressions on Davis for several minutes, but Davis was unresponsive. When officers arrived on the scene and asked who shot Davis, Appellant responded, "I did." Appellant then complied with officers' instructions to turn around and be handcuffed. Appellant was taken into custody and interviewed by Sergeant Chris Hutcherson.
Sergeant Hutcherson testified that during the interview Appellant stated that Davis "had some authority problems" because Appellant was younger than Davis and that Appellant "felt threatened" by Davis because "he knew [Davis] had a record." Sergeant Hutcherson further testified that at no point during the interview did Appellant indicate that he believed Davis had some sort of weapon in his hand.
Taking the stand in his own defense, Appellant testified that he had shot Davis in self-defense. Appellant explained that he felt threatened when Davis said, "What if I f***ing swing on you," since Appellant's back was turned when Davis made the comment and Appellant knew Davis had a criminal record. Appellant explained that, in response to the threat, he pulled out his firearm, "racked a round," and turned toward Davis. But Appellant testified that he "never had any intent to use [the firearm]." Appellant further testified that, because Davis was "confidently pursuing" him despite seeing the firearm, Appellant believed Davis had some sort of weapon. Appellant explained that he then saw a "flicker of yellow and black" in Davis's hand and assumed it was a box cutter that the workers sometimes used to unpack furniture, although the evidence later showed that the item in Davis's hand was actually a lighter. Appellant testified that he shot Davis because he was "terrified" that Davis would use the box cutter as a weapon against him. However, on cross-examination, Appellant stated that, prior to pulling out the firearm, he "was not looking at [Davis's] hands."
When the prosecutor asked Appellant why he did not mention to Sergeant Hutcherson at any point during his post-arrest interview that he believed Davis had a box cutter, Appellant responded, "I don't believe I was in the right state of mind." The prosecutor also questioned Barron about whether Jazzy Movers had supplied box cutters for the moving job that morning. Barron testified that the company did not provide box cutters and that he did not observe Davis or "anybody using box cutters that morning."
The medical examiner who performed Davis's autopsy testified that Davis's "cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds" and that a "total of eight gunshot wounds" were found in Davis's body, the majority of which struck Davis from behind. The medical examiner further testified that Davis's wounds indicated that he had likely "turn[ed] to the right to get out of the way of being shot" and that five of the gun shots "could have been lethal" on their own.
On appeal, Appellant contends that the trial evidence established that he acted in self-defense under OCGA § 16-3-21 (a), which provides in relevant part that a person is justified in using deadly force "if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself . . . or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony." According to Appellant, the trial evidence showed that he reasonably employed "non-lethal" force by drawing his firearm in response to Davis's threat to "swing" on him and then reasonably employed deadly force when Davis continued to pursue him. Therefore, Appellant argues, the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Appellant was not justified in defending himself. We disagree.
When evaluating the sufficiency of evidence, the proper standard of review is whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560) (1979). This Court will uphold the jury's verdict "[a]s long as there is some competent evidence, even if contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State's case." Scott v. State,...
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