## Facts

- Through an acquaintance, Gary Jones purchased crack cocaine at a house associated with Jerry Zellner and Horace Lawson.
- Later that night, Jones returned to the house and shot and killed Zellner and Lawson.
- The State of Georgia charged Jones with felony murder, and Jones pled not guilty.
- At trial, the prosecution presented evidence identifying Jones as the shooter.
- Venue (the county where the crime occurred) was tried as Fulton County, Georgia.
- A neighbor of the victims testified that the neighbor’s home was located on Evans Drive in Fulton County.
- The trial record did not include evidence that the victims’ home—where the shootings occurred—was located in Fulton County.
- The jury convicted Jones.
- Jones appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient because the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that venue was properly laid in Fulton County.

## Issues

1. Whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that venue for the charged offenses was in Fulton County, Georgia.

## Decision

- The appellate court reversed the conviction.
- The court held the State failed to present evidence from which a rational jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that the crimes occurred in Fulton County.

## Legal Principles

- In Georgia, venue is a material element the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt in every criminal case.
- Venue may be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, but the evidence must support a finding—beyond a reasonable doubt—of the county where the crime occurred.
- Evidence that a nearby or related location is in a given county does not, without more, prove that the crime scene itself is in that county.
- When the record lacks sufficient evidence of venue, a conviction cannot stand.

## Conclusion

Jones v. State, 537 S.E.2d 80 (2000), reversed a felony-murder conviction because the prosecution did not carry its burden to prove venue beyond a reasonable doubt: the evidence placed only a neighbor’s home in Fulton County, not the victims’ home where the killings occurred.
