State v. Williams

321 Ga. 375

FINAL COPY S25A0249. THE STATE v. CLEVELAND. S25A0250. THE STATE v. WILLIAMS. MCMILLIAN, Justice. After Jalontaye Clay Cleveland and Courtney Trumaine Williams were jointly convicted of malice murder for the shooting death of Vatsal Patel and crimes involving several other victims, the trial court granted a new trial because the court had instructed the jury that three of the State’s witnesses were accomplices to Cleveland and Williams in violation of OCGA § 17-8-57 (a) (1), which prohibits a court from commenting on the guilt of the accused.1 On 1 The crimes occurred between…