Malcolm v. State

── Malcolm v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Georgia Date: April 21, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: This opinion is subject to modification resulting from motions for reconsideration under Supreme Court Rule 27, the Court’s reconsideration, and editorial revisions by the Reporter of Decisions. The version of the opinion published in the Advance Sheets for the Georgia Reports, designated as the “Final Copy,” will replace any prior version on the Court’s website and docket. A bound volume of the Georgia Reports will contain the final and official text of the opinion. In the Supreme Court of Georgia No. S26A0057 Deqaveon Malcolm v. The State On Appeal from the Superior Court of Fulton County No. 16SC147899 Argued: December 9, 2025  Decided: April 21, 2026 MCMILLIAN, Justice. Deqaveon Malcolm appeals from his convictions for felony murder, aggravated assault, and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of James Simmons and injury to Trevis Buf- ford. 1 Malcolm asserts that (1) the evidence was insufficient as a 1 The crimes were committed on April 7, 2016. In November 2016, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Malcolm for two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity (Counts 1 and 9), malice murder (Count 2), three counts of felony murder (Counts 3-5), two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (Counts 6-7), criminal damage to property in the first degree (Count 8), robbery by force (Count 10), aggravated assault (Count 11), and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (Counts 12- 13). At a jury trial held from July 31 to August 6, 2018, Malcolm was found guilty of one count of criminal street gang activity (Count 1), two counts of felony murder (Counts 3-4), two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (Counts 6-7), and criminal damage to property in the first degree (Count 8); he was acquitted of the remaining counts. The trial court sentenced Malcolm to serve life in prison for felony murder (Count 3), a concurrent ten- year term in prison for participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 1), and a concurrent twenty-year term in prison for aggravated assault of Bufford matter of constitutional due process; (2) trial counsel rendered in- effective assistance by failing to file a motion to suppress evidence obtained from a search of Malcolm’s mother’s car; and (3) the trial court abused its discretion in failing to remove a juror. Because the evidence was sufficient as a matter of constitutional due pro- cess, trial counsel had an objectively reasonable trial strategy in forgoing a motion to suppress, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the contested juror to remain, we affirm. The State’s theory was that Malcolm and Jamon Freeman2 committed a drive-by shooting directed at Simmons and Bufford in retaliation for their having shot Malcolm’s girlfriend’s car. The evidence introduced at trial 3 showed that Malcolm and Freeman were both members of “Bird Gang,” a subset of the Bloods gang. On April 7, 2016, Simmons and Bufford went to an apartment complex in Atlanta. 4 That apartment complex, where Malcolm (Count 7); the remaining counts either merged for sentencing purposes or were vacated by operation of law. We express no opinion on whether the conviction for criminal damage to property in the first degree was properly merged with the felony murder conviction. Malcolm timely filed a motion for new trial, which was amended in January 2020, June 2022, and January 2024. Following an evidentiary hearing in June