Murphy v. State

Hunstein, Justice.

Travis Santel Murphy was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his cousin, Willie Harrison III. He appealed contending, inter alia, that the trial court erred by refusing to give his written request to charge regarding a criminal defendant’s election not to testify. The Court of Appeals recognized that the trial court erred by failing to give the timely requested and legally correct charge, but held the failure to be harmless under the facts adduced by the State to support Murphy’s conviction. Murphy v. State, 233 Ga. App. 579 (1) (504 SE2d 484)…