Crime & Safety
Court Reverses Murder Conviction Because Of Dismissed Juror
The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the murder conviction of a Douglasville man because a juror in his trial was improperly dismissed.
ATLANTA, GA — A Douglasville man’s 2018 murder conviction was reversed Monday after the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a juror in his trial was dismissed improperly.
Roger Mills, a member of the Crip gang Cuzz6locc (pronounced Cuzzblock), was convicted in Douglas County for the 2017 murder of Masuto Garrett at a residence off Cave Springs Road.
Attorneys for Mills don’t dispute whether the evidence presented at trial — shell casings, surveillance and cell-phone videos, and a social-media posting — was enough to convict him.
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However, when one juror said she didn’t believe the evidence because no “clear resolution video from within the house” showed Mills firing the gun that killed Garrett, Superior Court Judge William "Beau" McClain replaced the juror and rebooted deliberations.
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Mills was then convicted of malice murder, felony murder predicated on aggravated assault, aggravated assault by brandishing a handgun, and aggravated assault by shooting Garrett. He later was sentenced to life without parole plus 20 years. A codefendent, Moses Bolar, was acquitted of malice murder but convicted of everything else.
On Monday, the court ruled that McClain shouldn’t have removed the juror.
“The trial court’s very limited inquiry into Juror 23’s possible incapacity fell short of providing a sound basis for her excusal,” Justice John J. Ellington wrote in the court’s decision. “That Juror 23 had reached a conclusion different from that of the other jurors did not show that she was incapacitated or legally unfit to serve.”
The court also ruled that Mills and Bolar may be re-tried. Douglas County district attorney Ryan Leonard could not be reached for comment.
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