Thompson v. State
| Decision Date | 08 October 1987 |
| Docket Number | No. 44743,44743 |
| Citation | 361 S.E.2d 154,257 Ga. 481 |
| Parties | THOMPSON v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Henry G. Bozeman, Dublin, for Rooney S. Thompson.
Beverly B. Hayes, Jr., Dist. Atty., Samuel A. Hilbun, Edwin J. Wilson, Asst. Dist. Attys., Dublin, Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Dennis R. Dunn, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Rooney Thompson shot and killed Richard Jenkins with a handgun. He was convicted of malice murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. 1
1. The record contains a full account of hostility between Thompson and the victim, arising from Thompson's relationship with the victim's sister. On one occasion, the two men exchanged gunfire. Shortly before the killing, Thompson was heard to say "[T]his is not over with yet ... 'cause I'm going to get him 'cause he ain't got no business hitting me with that iron pipe ... I'm going down here and I'm going to kill him."
2. On the night of the killing, Thompson approached the victim at a tavern, and gunfire erupted. Thompson pursued the victim, firing his handgun. The victim ran and returned the fire. Jenkins died from a wound to the back. Thompson was shot in the chest. Thompson testified that the victim fired first. One witness testified that Thompson first brandished his handgun. Others testified they did not know which of the two men was the aggressor.
3. Thompson contends the trial court erred in not granting his motion for a directed verdict of not guilty, and in refusing to grant a new trial. He further contends the state failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense. From the evidence in the case, a rational trier of fact could have found Thompson guilty of malice murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).
4. The trial court instructed the jury as to self-defense and voluntary manslaughter. Thompson contends the trial court erred in refusing to give his requested charge on involuntary manslaughter. His sole defense was justification. We observed in Saylors v. State, 251 Ga. 735, 737, 309 S.E.2d 796 (1983), that a
5. The trial court instructed the jury: Thompson asserts that this charge prohibited the jury from considering the victim's alleged aggressive conduct toward Thompson, and from inferring a motive on the part of the victim to shoot...
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