State of Georgia v. Darrell Lee Clark and Cain Joshua Storey

Rome, Georgia criminal law lawyers represented Defendants charged with malice murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the death of 15-year-old Brian Bowling in 1996.



The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the head on October 18, 1996, and died the next day. In an indictment returned August 8, 1997, appellants were charged with malice murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Appellant Storey was additionally charged with involuntary manslaughter.



Storey admitted that he took the gun to Bowling's home.



"It was undisputed that appellant Cain Joshua Storey, Brian's best friend, had entered Brian's room several minutes before the shot was fired, and those members of Brian's family who had seen Storey before he entered Brian's room described him as acting strangely and appearing nervous. After the "shooting, Storey initially told Brian's family members that he 'didn't mean to kill him,' and that he 'didn't mean for him to die.' He then said that Brian had shot himself with a gun that Storey had brought to Brian's room, making Storey feel responsible for Brian's death."



Cain Joshua Storey, age 17, were accused of shooting and killing Brian Bowling, age 15. Darrell Lee Clark, also age 17, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder.



Seven months after Brian's death, a man contacted police and told them his speech-and-hearing-impaired brother had information about the shooting. Using his brother as an interpreter, the impaired witness told the investigating officer he had seen someone run by the [271 Ga. 12] Bowlings' front window immediately after the fatal shot was fired. The officer left the witness and put together a six-photo lineup which he presented to the witness who, without waiting for further instruction from the officer, immediately selected appellant Clark's photo as depicting the man he saw running from the scene of the shooting. The witness later identified Clark at trial through a sworn and qualified sign language interpreter. The trial court overruled defense objections to the admission of his testimony.



Over appellants' objections, the trial court permitted two women who had cleaned the Storey home to testify about the handwritten contents of a composition book they came across during their work, some six to ten weeks before Brian died. The book, on the cover of which was written "Free Birds," contained a list of names denoted as "members," which list included the victim and appellants, and "rules" to cover the behavior of the members.2 One of the women, a relative of appellant Storey, testified she asked him about the book and he told her it belonged to another young man. The book itself was not offered as evidence, and the purported author/owner of the book did not testify. Appellants contended at trial and now on appeal that the testimony of the women regarding the contents of the writing was not the best evidence of the writing and was inadmissible hearsay.





Bowling was on the phone talking to his girlfriend and told her he was playing Russian roulette with a gun brought to his home by Story who was allegedly in the room at the time.



Storey was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter.



A woman who lived near the victim's home testified that the Defendants confessed that they had "planned the murder of Bowling because he knew too much about a prior theft Storey and Clark had committed.



The State presented evidence that Brian suffered a fatal gunshot wound to his right temple while in his bedroom in his parents' home in rural Floyd County. A .38 caliber handgun was found between Brian's feet. A neurosurgeon who treated Brian testified that his report of his examination of Brian did not mention finding a powder burn, often left by a gun fired in close proximity to skin, a fact he would have included had he found such a burn. The neurosurgeon also testified that the 45 percent angle of the bullet's entrance into the victim's head was "unusual" for a self-inflicted wound, as was the lack of powder burns.



It was undisputed that appellant Cain Joshua Storey, Brian's best friend, had entered Brian's room several minutes before the shot was fired, and those members of Brian's family who had seen Storey before he entered Brian's room described him as acting strangely and appearing nervous. After the "It was undisputed that appellant Cain Joshua Storey, Brian's best friend, had entered Brian's room several minutes before the shot was fired, and those members of Brian's family who had seen Storey before he entered Brian's room described him as acting strangely and appearing nervous. After the shooting, Storey initially told Brian's family members that he "didn't mean to kill him," and that he "didn't mean for him to die." He then said that Brian had shot himself with a gun that Storey had brought to Brian's room, making Storey feel responsible for Brian's death. A hearing-and-speech-impaired man visiting the Bowling home the night of the shooting testified that he saw a man he later identified as appellant Darrell Lee Clark running away from the home immediately after the shot was fired. Family members who entered Brian's room after the shot was fired noticed that a plywood board normally positioned in front of Brian's broken window was out of place, and testified that Brian and his friends used the window as a means of ingress into and egress from Brian's room.



Through the testimony of a woman who hosted a party attended by both appellants three and one-half months after Brian's death, the State presented evidence that Storey had told the witness, in Clark's presence, that they were members of a gang called "Free Birds" and that they had shot Brian because he knew too much about their burglary of a safe. The party hostess also testified that she had learned in her Storey-Clark conversation that Brian had wanted to leave the gang and its activities. The witness stated that Clark told her he was present when Brian was shot, but that he had not pulled the trigger. The witness further testified that appellants told her the gang had rules promising death as punishment for a member who talked to [271 Ga. 8] police. Through the testimony of Bowling family members and police investigators, the jury was informed that, a week before he died, Brian had talked with police, in Storey's presence, about the theft of a safe and its contents from Storey's father. At the time of Brian's conversation with the police, appellants Storey and Clark had been arrested for the theft of the safe, and the investigating officer described Brian's statement as useful to the investigation since it corroborated Storey's statement which had implicated Clark as a participant in the theft of the safe.



A deputy county coroner who saw the victim's wound at the hospital and again at a funeral home testified at trial. After he admitted that he had never been allowed to give an expert opinion in court regarding the

existence of gunpowder on a body, and that his [271 Ga. 9] experience and training did not enable him to look at an object and give a scientific opinion whether gunpowder residue was present because examination by microscope was necessary, the trial court declined to certify the coroner as an expert witness. Instead, the deputy coroner was permitted to give his lay opinion, based on his familiarity with the appearance of powder burns on human flesh and his examination of the victim, to testify that he saw no visible powder marks on the victim which meant that the fatal shot had been fired from a distance of at least 12-18" from the victim's head.





Over appellants' objections, the trial court permitted two women who had cleaned the Storey home to testify about the handwritten contents of a composition book they came across during their work, some six to ten weeks before Brian died. The book, on the cover of which was written "Free Birds," contained a list of names denoted as "members," which list included the victim and appellants, and "rules" to cover the behavior of the members.2 One of the women, a relative of appellant Storey, testified she asked him about the book and he told her it belonged to another young man.





Seven months after Brian's death, a man contacted police and told them his speech-and-hearing-impaired broth had information about the shooting. Using his brother as a interpreter, the impaired witness told the investigating officer he had seen someone run by the Bowling's front window immediately after the fatal shot was fired.. The officer put together a six-photo lineup which he presented to the witness, who without waiting further instruction from the officer, immediately identified Clark as the man he had seen. The witness later identified Clark as the man he had seen.





Defense counsel's questioning of the officer who presented the lineup to the witness. After the officer testified on direct examination that he had not indicated to either the witness or his brother that a photo of "the individual" was in the lineup, the officer several times gave an affirmative response to defense counsel's questions that he told the witness and his brother that he "would go fix a lineup with [appellant] Clark's picture in it, and ... bring it back and present it to them." On re-direct and re-cross examination, the officer could not recall giving the brothers the name of anyone he was going to include in the lineup.



A woman who lived nears Bowling's home was inteviewed by police and claimed that Defendants confessed that they had "planned the murder of Bowling because he knew too much about a prior theft Storey and Clark had committed.”



The State's theory in this case was that the victim and appellants were members of a gang and that the victim had been killed for talking to police about a crime members of the gang had committed."





Clark claimed that he was home when Bowling was shot and killed and was supported by the testimony of two witnesses.

Their joint trial commenced on January 12, 1998, and concluded on January 19 with the jury's return of guilty verdicts on the murder and conspiracy charges.



The Defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder conviction on January 27. Clark filed a motion for new trial on February 10, and amended it on September 30. Storey filed a motion for new trial on February 24 and amended it on October 5.



The Georgia Supreme Court Affirmed. See: 515 S.E. 155, 271 Ga. 6



GA Code § 16-5-1 (2020)



(a) A person commits the offense of murder when he unlawfully and with malice aforethought, either express or implied, causes the death of another human being.



(b) Express malice is that deliberate intention unlawfully to take the life of another human being which is manifested by external circumstances capable of proof. Malice shall be implied where no considerable provocation appears and where all the circumstances of the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart.



(c) A person commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.



(d) A person commits the offense of murder in the second degree when, in the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice.



(e)

(1) A person convicted of the offense of murder shall be punished by death, by imprisonment for life without parole, or by imprisonment for life.

(2) A person convicted of the offense of murder in the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than 30 years.



Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. Georgia may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.



GA Code § 16-5-3 (2020)



(a) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so by the commission of an unlawful act other than a felony. A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of an unlawful act, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years.



(b) A person commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner when he causes the death of another human being without any intention to do so, by the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. A person who commits the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in an unlawful manner, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as for a misdemeanor.



GA Code § 16-4-8 (2020)



A person commits the offense of conspiracy to commit a crime when he together with one or more persons conspires to commit any crime and any one or more of such persons does any overt act to effect the object of the conspiracy. A person convicted of the offense of criminal conspiracy to commit a felony shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than one-half the maximum period of time for which he could have been sentenced if he had been convicted of the crime conspired to have been committed, by one-half the maximum fine to which he could have been subjected if he had been convicted of such crime, or both. A person convicted of the offense of criminal conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor shall be punished as for a misdemeanor. A person convicted of the offense of criminal conspiracy to commit a crime punishable by death or by life imprisonment shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years.

The Georgia Innocence Project filed post conviction relief motions claiming that newly discovered evidence proved that Defendants were not, in fact, guilty and sought a new trial.

One witness recanted her testimony claiming she was coerced into giving false statements and was threatened by the State with having her children taken away from her if she failed to comply.

A second witness called to testify during trial testified that he never identified Clark and his testimony was based on an "unrelated, factually similar shooting" which he witnessed in 1976.

Clark's lawyers asserted that his conviction was based on false evidence and coercion.

The Rome Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office agreed that Clark’s conviction should be overturned and quickly dismissed all underlying charges against Clark.

Storey was released after accepting a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter, and a 10-year sentenced with time served, after spending 25 years in prison.

Clark was exonerated after spending 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Judge Neidrach apologized on behalf of the State of Georgia.

Georgia is one of 12 states that do not currently have statutory compensation laws.