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Brandon v. The State

Murder Defendant's Single Claim of Error Regarding Jury Venire Was Not Preserved for Appeal; Defendant's Claim Is Foreclosed

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Peterson, Justice. Eric Brandon admitted shooting and killing his stepson, Alexander Koser, and the evidence showed that Koser was shot several times at close range. Brandon was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the killing.[1] On appeal, Brandon argues only that the trial court erred in prohibiting him from asking the jury venire whether anyone believed that a person who had been arrested must be guilty of a criminal offense. But Brandon did not object to the trial court’s sua sponte ruling that he now seeks to appeal, which forecloses his claim. For more than 150 years, we have held that defendants must lodge contemporaneous objections to a trial court’s ruling in order to preserve a claim of error for ordinary appellate review. See, e.g., Goodtitle v. Roe, 20 Ga. 135, 140 (1856); Burtine v. State, 18 Ga. 534, 537 (1855). Brandon acknowledges this long-standing precedent, which has been applied to claims of error stemming from a trial court’s sua sponte limitation of voir dire questions. See, e.g., Hurt v. State, 298 Ga. 51, 59 (4) (779 SE2d 313) (2015). Brandon argues that we should overrule or relax that precedent, relying on provisions of the current Evidence Code and Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. But none of the cited provisions apply to voir dire questions, and we decline to reconsider our precedent. And although certain unpreserved claims of error may be reviewed for plain error, Brandon’s claim is not one of those that is subject to such review. See Keller v. State, 308 Ga. 492, 497 (2) (a) (842 SE2d 22) (2020) (outlining four circumstances in which plain error review is allowed and explaining that this Court will not expand such review to other circumstances absent direction from the General Assembly). Because Brandon’s single claim of error has not been preserved, we affirm. Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.

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