Court Opinion

ID: 9577916
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:39:24.884273+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:29.315014
License: Public Domain

Hill, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the majority opinion and judgment. I write to elaborate on Division 1 of the majority opinion.
This is at least the sixth (6th) time since 1977 that this court has reversed a conviction for an underlying felony where the jury’s verdict was unclear as to whether the jury found the defendant guilty of murder with malice aforethought or felony murder. Reed v. State, 238 Ga. 457 (7) (233 SE2d 369) (1977); Casper v. State, 244 Ga. 689 (7) (261 SE2d 629) (1979); Dampier v. State, 245 Ga. 427 (13) (265 SE2d 565) (1980); Burke v. State, 248 Ga. 124 (1) (281 SE2d 607) (1981); Dillard v. State, 251 Ga. 858, fn. 1 (310 SE2d 518) (1984); see OCGA § 16-5-1 (a) (c).
As Justice Weltner pointed out in Dillard v. State, supra, when a judge charges a jury on malice murder and on felony murder, the judge should instruct the jury to make its verdict clear by finding the defendant “guilty of murder with malice aforethought,” or “guilty of felony murder” (or “not guilty”).
If the jury does not return a verdict clearly distinguishing between malice murder or felony murder, the jury should be recharged and required to make its verdict clear.