306 Ga. 753
FINAL COPY
S19A0491. SMITH v. THE STATE.
BOGGS, Justice.
Appellant Talib Nasheef Smith was convicted of murder,
criminal street gang activity, and other crimes in connection with
the 2013 shooting death of Khaseim Daru Walton. He appeals,
asserting insufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions and
error in a jury instruction. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.1
1 The crimes occurred on November 25, 2013. On April 8, 2014, a Fulton
County grand jury indicted Smith and three co-defendants, Tshombe Stripling,
Elijah Brewer, and Katrina Shardow, in connection with the Walton shooting.
Some of Smith’s co-defendants were also indicted in connection with a
separate, non-fatal shooting nine days later. Smith was charged with malice
murder, two counts of felony murder, participation in criminal street gang
activity, attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,
and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Smith and his
co-defendants were tried together before a jury in February 2015, but the jury
was unable to reach a verdict with respect to the charges in the Walton
shooting. In May 2015, Smith and his co-defendants were re-tried before a jury
on May 12 to 26, 2015, and Smith was found guilty on all counts. The trial
court sentenced Smith to serve life in prison for malice murder, 15 years
consecutive for criminal gang activity, 10 years consecutive for attempted
armed robbery, and five years consecutive for possession of a firearm during
the commission of a felony; the remaining counts were vacated as a matter of
law or merged. On June 2, 2015, Smith filed a timely motion for new trial,
which he amended with new counsel on August 18, 2016. After a hearing on
1. In Stripling v. State, 304 Ga. 131 (
816 SE2d 663) (2018), this
Court affirmed the convictions of Smith’s co-defendants Tshombe
Stripling and Elijah Brewer, who were tried together with Smith.
There, this Court summarized the evidence, in the light most
favorable to the verdicts, as follows:
Walton was a cocaine dealer. Shortly before 9:00
p.m. on November 25, 2013, he drove one of his clients,
Gloria Traylor, to a rooming house in the Oakland City
area of Atlanta to show her a room that he was planning
to rent as a place at which he could sell drugs. As they
approached the house, Traylor saw a man she knew as
“Chalee” standing outside near a vehicle that looked like
a Suburban or a truck. At trial, Traylor identified Talib
Smith as Chalee. A short time later, when Walton and
Traylor were backing up to leave the house, a man got out
of the Suburban-like vehicle, approached the driver’s side
of Walton’s car, and asked to buy some drugs. After
Walton prepared the cocaine, there was a struggle
between him and the man standing outside the car.
Traylor then saw three guns pointed in the driver’s side
window; she heard shots and ducked down. Walton drove
into a pole, and Traylor got out of the car screaming.
Walton had been shot four times; he died from his injuries
soon after he arrived at the hospital. Traylor could not
identify the man who asked to buy drugs or any of the
people holding the guns.
September 13, 2016, the trial court denied the motion on October 27, 2016.
Smith did not file a timely notice of appeal, but moved for an out-of-time
appeal, which the trial court granted. The case was docketed in this Court for
the April 2019 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.
2
Paul Whibbey, the manager of the rooming house,
looked out his window when he heard a commotion
around the time of the shooting. He saw four individuals
walking toward Walton’s car from a black SUV. Whibbey
testified that one had short dreadlocks and another had
well-kept dreadlocks. At the time of the shooting,
Stripling and Talib had twists or dreadlocks; Brewer did
not have dreadlocks. Whibbey heard the people saying
“get this, get that, get his money.” He saw the man with
the well-kept dreadlocks shoot a gun and heard eight or
nine shots. Then the four individuals got back in the SUV
and left. After the shooting, Whibbey was interviewed by
Detective Kevin Leonpacher of the Atlanta Police
Department, and he identified Neddrick Smith from a
photo lineup as the shooter.
Neddrick, who had dreadlocks, was arrested and
interviewed by the police. He denied any involvement in
the shooting. He said that he had driven his Kia sedan to
the rooming house that day with his brothers, Nemiyas
and Nierris Smith, and Monquel Yancey to buy a heater
from someone who lived there, but he had driven away
from the house and just arrived at his aunt’s house nearby
when he heard the shots. He jumped back in his car and
returned to the rooming house to investigate. He also said
that his brother Talib, who some people say looks like
him, may have been involved in the shooting.[2]
Nemiyas and Nierris also were interviewed by
Detective Leonpacher, and their interviews were played
for the jury after the two brothers testified and said that
they did not remember most of what they had said in their
interviews. Nemiyas told the detective that when he was
2 In addition to the facts recited in Stripling, evidence was presented at
trial that Smith’s mother, Tonya Smith, also told police that he looks like
Neddrick and may have been involved. In addition, Whibbey testified that
Nedrick and Smith “look so closely related.”
3
outside the rooming house with Neddrick, Nierris, and
Yancey before the shooting, he saw Knuckles (Stripling’s
nickname), Tommy Gunz (Brewer’s nickname), Talib,
Katrina Shardow, and someone named Pat pull up in a
black Jeep and Talib get out. Nemiyas said that all of
those people were members of the Bloods gang. Nierris
similarly told Detective Leonpacher that he saw five
people in a Jeep, including Talib, “Shombe,” “Elijah,” and
a woman; Nierris identified Tshombe Stripling in a photo
lineup as being in the Jeep, but did not identify Elijah
Brewer in a lineup. About a week before the murder,
Shardow had rented a black Jeep Cherokee SUV. Three
weeks after the murder, she reported the SUV stolen; the
police found it on fire a few minutes later.
Eleven shell casings were found at the scene of
Walton’s shooting, and ballistics testing showed that they
were fired from at least three and as many as five
different .45-caliber guns. One set of shell casings
matched casings left by the gun Stripling used in a
different shooting nine days after the murder. A cell
phone that belonged to Brewer was found in a driveway
at the scene. Brewer told his girlfriend that he had
dropped the phone when there was a shooting and he ran.
Cell phone records showed that Brewer, Stripling, and
Talib were in frequent contact and near each other on the
day of the shooting, including in Oakland City. About 30
minutes after the shooting, Stripling’s phone called
Neddrick’s phone; Neddrick told Detective Leonpacher
that this call was from Talib using Stripling’s phone.[3]
Stripling did not testify at trial, but Detective
Leonpacher testified that Stripling had admitted to him
3 In addition to the facts recited in Stripling, evidence was presented at
trial that, shortly after the shooting occurred, both Neddrick and Tonya Smith
saw Smith distraught, threatening suicide, and pacing with a firearm.
4
in an interview that Stripling was a member of the
Bloods. . . . Brewer testified at trial that he was a member
of the Nine Trey Bloods and was part of a group that
committed credit card fraud for the gang. He also said
that Shardow was a member of the gang and Talib was
affiliated with the gang.
(Footnotes omitted.) Stripling, 304 Ga. at 132-134. A gang expert
also testified that “a faction of the Bloods known as the Nine Trey
Bloods is active in the Oakland City area and commits various
violent crimes, including murders and armed robberies. The gang
makes most of its money through robberies, including robberies of
drug dealers.”
Id. at 133 n.2.
When evaluating a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence,
this Court views all of the evidence presented at trial in the light
most favorable to the verdicts and asks whether any rational trier
of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v.
Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (III) (B) (
99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560)
(1979). On appeal, “this Court defers to the jury’s assessment of the
weight and credibility of the evidence.” (Citation and punctuation
5
omitted.) Manning v. State, 303 Ga. 723, 724 (1) (
814 SE2d 730)
(2018). And “it was for the jury to determine the credibility of the
witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the
evidence.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Stripling,
304 Ga.
at 135 (1) (b).
(a) Smith first contends that the evidence was insufficient to
support his murder conviction, arguing that Traylor was unsure in
her testimony that she saw him at the scene and that Whibbey
identified Neddrick as the shooter rather than Smith. But Smith’s
brothers, Nierris and Neddrick, told police that they saw Smith get
out of the black SUV before the shooting, and Whibbey testified that
the individuals from that vehicle were the ones who shot Walton.
And while Whibbey initially thought that Neddrick was the shooter,
he acknowledged that he only had a “side view” of the shooter and
that Neddrick and Smith “look so closely related.” Neddrick and
Smith’s mother acknowledged that resemblance, indicated that they
both believed Smith may have been involved in the shooting, and
further admitted that, shortly after the shooting, they saw Smith
6
distraught, threatening suicide, and pacing with a firearm. The trier
of fact is authorized to accept or reject any portion of the testimony
presented to it. See Kemp v. State, 303 Ga. 385, 388 (1) (a) (
810 SE2d
515) (2018). Finally, cell phone records showed that the three co-
defendants were in frequent contact on the day of the shooting, and
Smith used Stripling’s phone to call Neddrick. “Shared criminal
intent may be inferred from the person’s conduct before, during, and
after the crime.” (Citations and punctuation omitted.) Stripling,
304
Ga. at 135 (1) (b); see also OCGA § 16-2-20. The evidence presented
at trial was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude
that Smith was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of Walton’s
murder.
(b) Smith also contends that the evidence was insufficient to
show that Walton’s shooting was in furtherance of his and his co-
defendants’ gang interests. But in Stripling, Smith’s co-defendant
Brewer made the same argument on appeal, and we rejected it:
Brewer admitted that he was a member of the Nine Trey
Bloods gang and that he had participated in other
criminal activity for the gang. Testimony from Brewer
7
and Detective Leonpacher showed that each of Brewer’s
co-defendants was in or affiliated with the gang. A gang
expert testified that the gang makes most of its money
through armed robberies, including robberies of drug
dealers like Walton. Other testimony indicated that
Walton was seeking to establish a permanent place of
business for drug dealing in the Oakland City area, which
is where Brewer’s gang operates. As a whole, this
evidence was sufficient to establish a nexus between the
crimes against Walton and an intent to further the
interests of the Nine Trey Bloods.
(Citations and punctuation omitted.) 304 Ga. at 134 (1) (b).
As we held in Stripling, the evidence presented at trial, viewed
in the light most favorable to the verdict, was sufficient to authorize
a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith
was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted.
2. Finally, Smith contends the trial court abused its discretion
in overruling his objection to the State’s requested charge on
conspiracy. But
[i]t is not error to charge on the subject of conspiracy when
the evidence tends to show a conspiracy, even if a
conspiracy is not alleged in the indictment. The State may
prove a conspiracy by showing that two or more persons
tacitly came to a mutual understanding to pursue a
criminal objective. And the conspiracy may be inferred
from the nature of the acts done, the relation of the
8
parties, the interest of the alleged conspirators, and other
circumstances.
(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Edge v. State, 275 Ga. 311, 313
(6) (
567 SE2d 1) (2002).4 And only slight evidence is necessary to
warrant a charge on the subject of conspiracy. Brown v. State,
304
Ga. 435, 441 (3) (
819 SE2d 14) (2018). More than slight evidence
supported the instruction here: Smith and his co-defendants rode
together to the house in their gang territory where Walton was
planning to sell drugs. They fled the scene together after robbing
and shooting Walton, and cell phone evidence showed that they
communicated with each other and were together before, during,
and after the crimes at issue here. This evidence authorized the trial
court to charge the jury on conspiracy. See
id.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.
4 Conspiracy was not alleged in the indictment of Smith and his co-defendants.
9
DECIDED SEPTEMBER 9, 2019.
Murder. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Ellerbe.
Dell Jackson, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Lyndsey H. Rudder,
Stephany J. Luttrell, Assistant District Attorneys; Christopher M.
10
Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney
General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General,
Meghan H. Hill, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
11
