Zayas v. State

Summary

The court affirmed the convictions for malice murder and a related firearm offense. It held that the circumstantial evidence authorized the jury to reject the accidental-shooting hypothesis, that counsel was not constitutionally deficient for declining to seek suppression of pre-warning police-station statements, and that any instructional errors concerning involuntary manslaughter did not prejudice the defense. The court also rejected the cumulative-prejudice claim because the assumed errors did not likely affect the verdict.