Spann v. State

── Spann 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. S26A0513 Morris Charles Spann v. The State On Appeal from the Superior Court of Clay County No. 2011CR129 Decided: April 21, 2026 PINSON, Justice. Morris Charles Spann was convicted of murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of his mother, Annie Bell Spann, and the non-fatal shooting of Willie James Ricks. 1 On 1 The shootings happened on July 30, 2011. On September 12, 2011, a Clay County grand jury indicted Spann for malice murder (Count 1), felony murder predicated on aggravated assault (Count 2), aggravated assault of An- nie (Count 3), aggravated assault of Ricks (Count 4), possession of a firearm during the murder of Annie (Count 5), and possession of a firearm during the aggravated assault of Ricks (Count 6). Spann was tried before a jury from Au- gust 26 to 29, 2013. The jury found Spann guilty of all counts. Spann was ini- tially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder, 20 years in prison for the aggravated assault of Ricks, and five years in prison for each of the firearm-possession counts, all to be served consecutively, for a total sentence of life without parole plus 30 years. The remaining counts merged for sentencing or were vacated by operation of law. Spann filed a timely motion for new trial on September 11, 2013, which he later amended through new counsel on June 1, 2018, and again on May 24, 2021. While the motion for new trial was pending, Spann moved to vacate his life-without-parole sentence as void because he was under 18 when the crimes were committed and the trial appeal, he argues that the evidence was not sufficient to support his convictions as a matter of constitutional due process. But the evidence at trial was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Spann was guilty of his crimes of conviction and to reject any alternative hypotheses. So Spann’s convictions are affirmed. 2 1. In the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence at trial showed the following. In the early morning hours of July 30, 2011, Ricks was sit- ting out in front of his house when he saw Annie, who lived across the street, get home from work. Annie started knocking on her court had not found that he was “irreparably corrupt” or “permanently incor- rigible.” See Veal v. State, 298 Ga. 691, 703 (2016). See also Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 US 190, 209–11 (2016). But see Holmes v. State, 311 Ga. 698, 704–05 (2021) (recognizing that Montgomery does not require a trial court to “provide explicit, on-the-record explanations regarding determinations of per- manent incorrigibility and the characteristics of children” before imposing a sentence of life without parole, and that Veal was “mistaken” to hold that such on-the-record findings are required). On March 15, 2021, the trial court gra