A Bulloch County man convicted of murdering his nephew will get a new trial following a ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court.
The ruling stems from the 2020 shooting death of Robert Keyjuan Lawson, for which Shannon Postell was tried and convicted. Postell claimed self-defense and attempted to present evidence about Lawson’s violent history at trial – a notion a trial court judge denied after prosecutors moved to exclude the character evidence as well as redact portions of Postell’s custodial interviews which addressed Lawson’s gang affiliations.
In a Motion for New Trial after conviction, Postell argued that the jury should have heard evidence about Lawson’s violent history because it could have helped jurors evaluate whether Postell reasonably believed he needed to use deadly force. A trial court judge agreed, but prosecutors appealed.
Last week, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the trial court decision in favor of Postell.
Background & Timeline
March 30, 2020 – Lawson was shot and killed outside a residence on C. Brown Road in unincorporated Bulloch County. A 9 mm handgun was discovered near his body. Postell initially said he had no knowledge of the shooting, but later acknowledged he fired a shot at Lawson in an act of self-defense. Investigators with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office recovered the rifle used in the shooting after Postell admitted throwing it into a drainage culvert. Postell had gone to work after firing the rifle because, as he told them, he wasn’t sure he even hit Lawson. Postell was subsequently arrested for Murder.
July 22, 2020 – Postell appeared for a Preliminary and Bond Hearing, where his request for bond is denied.
November 3, 2020 – Postell was indicted by a grand jury on charges of Malice Murder, Felony Murder (2), Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery, Possession of a Firearm During Commission of a Felony, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
October 4, 2021 – Defense counsel, Kelley Kidd of the Public Defender’s Office, filed a Motion for Immunity. In the Brief in support of the Motion, Kidd wrote that Postell and Lawson had back and forth about cigarettes and money, but that when Postell tried to enter Lawson’s room, Lawson pointed a pistol at Postell’s head and threatened to shoot him. He wrote that Lawson’s sister ran next door to tell Postell’s mother (Lawson’s grandmother) that Lawson had a gun and was threatening to use it on Postell. Lawson left with the gun and circled around surrounding wheat fields before re-emerging and being shot by Postell.
“All of the above persons were well aware that Keyshawn Lawson had previously been found by a Juvenile court to be responsible as a party to the crime of a homicide and that he was capable of inflicting death and great bodily harm on others,” Kidd wrote.
Summarily, defense attorneys intended to introduce evidence about Lawson that corroborated self-defense. Among the things Postell’s attorneys planned to introduce: Postell knew Lawson had been affiliated with the Bloods gang, had committed armed robberies, was “responsible for three deaths already,” had spent time in juvenile detention, had engaged in prior violent conduct, and had developed a reputation for violence.
November 4, 2021 – Under former District Attorney Daphne Totten, Assistant District Attorney Leland McElveen filed a Notice informing the defense that it would introduce Postell’s prior convictions to impeach him as a witness at trial.
November 18-19, 2021 – Judge Gates Peed presided over Postell’s Immunity Hearing. Chief ADA Barclay Black and ADA McElveen asked the court to dismiss the Motion for Immunity because the defense failed to meet the burden by a preponderance of the evidence.
Peed ultimately ruled that the defense presented no evidence that Postell acted in self-defense. “Furthermore, there was no evidence presented to the Court that the defendant was the individual who shot the victim in this case. Therefore, there was no admission to the elements of the crimes alleged in this indictment.”
March 11, 2022 – ADA Leland McElveen filed a Motion asking the court to exclude character evidence related to Lawson. McElveen argued that Lawson’s adjudication of delinquency was not a conviction because he was a juvenile. He wrote that character evidence is limited to reputation or opinion and not specific bad acts.
McElveen also asked that statements about Lawson made by Postell to law enforcement during his interrogations be excluded as well as two statements by an Investigator that he was “not looking at the gang aspect” and that Postell “tried to get him [Lawson] out of that life,” referring to gang life.
March 17, 2022 – Judge Peed granted the state’s Motion to exclude character evidence of Lawson, including all of the requests by the state to redact Postell’s custodial interviews with law enforcement.
Prosecutors argued that the shooting resulted from an argument over money rather than a legitimate act of self-defense. The State contended that Lawson was unarmed when he was shot and alleged that Postell planted the handgun beside Lawson’s body to bolster his claim of justification. Prosecutors also introduced evidence of Postell’s prior criminal convictions in an effort to challenge his credibility before the jury.
March 21, 2022 – Defense counsel filed a “Motion to Allow Evidence of the Alleged Victim’s Character When Testimony of Defendant Shows the Alleged Victim to Have Been the First Aggressor in the Incident in Which the Defendant is Accused in This Indictment.”
In it, attorneys said Postell plans to testify on his own behalf at trial and his testimony would “include an abundance of evidence that [Postell] was exercising his right to self-defense.” Citing two state statutes, two previous cases, and the 2021 Courtroom Handbook on Georgia Evidence, Kidd argued that Lawson’s propensity for violent acts was not only relevant but admissible.
