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Roderick Lanier Springerv.The State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A14A0598
DecidedJune 10, 2014
Reporter328 Ga. App. 654, 762 S.E.2d 433
JudgesSecond Division: Presiding Judge Andrews, and Judges McFadden and Ray; Ray authored the opinion; Andrews and McFadden concurred
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureMurder & MayhemJury InstructionsMotion for New TrialReversalRemandTales From the Crypt
Case Summary

A bystander was killed after gunfire during a parking-lot fight. A jury convicted Roderick Springer of reckless involuntary manslaughter under the felony-murder count, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during a felony. Springer argued that the manslaughter and assault verdicts were mutually exclusive because reckless manslaughter required criminal negligence while one aggravated-assault theory required intentional injury. The Court of Appeals agreed: the indictment and instructions allowed the jury to find aggravated assault under either of two theories, but the verdict form did not identify which theory the jury used. The court therefore could not rule out a reasonable probability that the jury found both criminal intent and criminal negligence as to the same act and victim. It reversed the involuntary-manslaughter and aggravated-assault convictions and, because those were predicate offenses for the firearm count, reversed that conviction as well; all were remanded for a new trial. The court did not reach Springer’s remaining claims.

Opinion

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The Far Side
Roderick Lanier Springer v. The State — The Atlanta Gleaner