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Eubanksv.State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S23A0519
DecidedOctober 24, 2023
Reporter317 Ga. 563; 894 S.E.2d 27; 2023 Ga. LEXIS 233
JudgesPINSON, Justice. All the Justices concur, except LaGrua, J., who concurs specially in part.
Tags
CriminalFelony MurderControlled SubstanceProximate CauseDrug DistributionSpecial Demurrer
Case Summary

Jessica Eubanks kept a large amount of heroin in a home shared with a severely developmentally disabled woman, conducted a heroin sale there, spilled the drug in accessible areas, and then left the vulnerable victim home alone; the next day the victim was dead from heroin toxicity. Eubanks challenged her felony-murder conviction on the ground that possession with intent to distribute heroin was not inherently dangerous under these facts and did not proximately cause the death. The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed. It held that, on these unusual facts, keeping and distributing the drug in a home where a highly vulnerable resident could foreseeably be exposed made the predicate felony dangerous to human life and supported proximate cause. The court also rejected her jury-charge, demurrer, hearsay, and evidentiary arguments.

Opinion

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