Almond v. State

── Almond v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Georgia Date: June 02, 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. S26A0017 Vincent Almond v. The State On Appeal from the Superior Court of DeKalb County No. 21CR1610 Decided: June 2, 2026 LAGRUA, Justice. Appellant Vincent Almond challenges his 2023 convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the shooting death of his grandfather Henry Benton. 1 Almond contends that (1) the trial court abused its discretion in ordering that Almond be shackled during trial; (2) the trial court committed plain error by 1 The crimes occurred on August 29, 2020. On June 1, 2021, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Almond for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. At a trial from April 10 to 14, 2023, the jury found Almond guilty of all charges. The trial court sentenced Almond to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole for malice murder and a consecutive term of five years for the firearm possession charge. The other counts merged or were vacated by operation of law. On May 10, 2023, Almond filed a motion for new trial, which he amended with new counsel on December 20, 2024. After an evidentiary hearing on March 14, 2025, the trial court entered an order denying the motion on May 13, 2025. Almond filed a timely notice of appeal, and the case was docketed in this Court to the term beginning in December 2025 and submitted for a decision on the briefs. allowing the State to introduce an in-life photograph of Benton through Benton’s daughter; (3) the prosecutor made improper comments during closing arguments; (4) and trial counsel was ineffective in not objecting to the in-life photograph and in not objecting to comments made by the prosecutor in closing argument. These arguments are unavailing, and thus, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence presented at trial showed the following: In August 2020, Almond was living with his mother Teresa Almond at her house in DeKalb County because he had recently lost his job and could not afford to live on his own. Although Teresa and Almond had a good relationship, Teresa noticed changes in Almond’s behavior after he moved in with her, including talking to himself and having “outbursts.” On August 29, 2020, Almond’s nine-year-old daughter, who lived with her mother, was at Teresa’s house visiting Almond. Almond believed that his daughter had taken some money from him, and he “had a little outburst.” Almond was “talking loud” and “was all in [his daughter’s] face.” According to Teresa, the outburst was “very scary.” After yelling at his daughter, Almond went to his bedroom. Teresa called 911, asking officers to come pick up Almond. Teresa also called her parents, and Benton, Teresa’s father, and Fannie Benton, Teresa’s mother, came over to her house. When Benton and