Gibbs v. the State

798 S.E.2d 308, 340 Ga. App. 723, 2017 WL 986006, 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 126
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMarch 14, 2017
DocketA16A2229
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 798 S.E.2d 308 (Gibbs v. the State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gibbs v. the State, 798 S.E.2d 308, 340 Ga. App. 723, 2017 WL 986006, 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 126 (Ga. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

McFADDEN, Presiding Judge.

Kevin S. Gibbs stands convicted of one count of aggravated assault on a peace officer, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and one count of reckless driving. This is his second appeal. On the first, we remanded and directed that the trial court discharge his duty — imposed by the invocation of the general grounds in Gibbs’s motion for new trial — to declare not merely whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury’s verdict, but whether his mind and conscience approved the verdict as rendered. Gibbs v. State, 334 Ga. App. XXVI (Oct. 6, 2015) (unpublished). Now that the trial court has discharged that duty and reaffirmed the denial of the motion for new trial, we address the merits of Gibbs’s other arguments.

Gibbs contends that his trial counsel was ineffective, but he has failed to show deficient performance. He contends that the trial court erred in admitting certain expert testimony, but that evidence did not invade the province of the jury. Finally he contends that certain of his offenses should have merged, and we agree. Our analysis of the *724 merger issue requires us to disapprove one of our published opinions because it is irreconcilable with a subsequent opinion of our Supreme Court.

1. Facts.

In our earlier opinion, we found that the evidence showed that

at around 5:00 p.m. on February 12, 2013, Smyrna police officer Daniel Stuckey, while on uniformed patrol, drove to Jonquil Park after receiving information that two suspects, whom he had previously arrested on drug charges, were possibly, again, engaging in drug transactions there. As his patrol vehicle entered the park, Officer Stuckey saw that the only vehicle in the parking lot was a small gray Hyundai, which had backed into a parking space and was occupied by several individuals. Deciding that he would try to speak with the vehicle’s occupants, Officer Stuckey parked a few feet away, but at an angle that did not impede the Hyundai, and exited his patrol car.
As Officer Stuckey approached, Gibbs, the vehicle’s driver, stepped on the accelerator, and the Hyundai briefly lurched forward, striking Officer Stuckey’s legs. Despite being struck, Officer Stuckey maintained his balance. He then immediately drew his weapon and yelled at Gibbs to stop and to exit the vehicle. However, instead of complying, Gibbs began inching his vehicle toward the officer a second time. Officer Stuckey repeated his orders, but Gibbs, again, stepped on the accelerator. As Gibbs’s vehicle barreled toward him, Officer Stuckey dove out of the way while firing his weapon toward the driver-side window. The gunshot shattered the window’s glass and ultimately struck Gibbs in the upper part of his chest. Nevertheless, despite being shot, Gibbs did not stop, or even slow down, but rather sped away from the park.
After determining that he was not seriously injured, Officer Stuckey radioed dispatch about the incident, activated his patrol car’s emergency lights, and began pursuit. Upon exiting the park, Officer Stuckey spotted Gibbs’s vehicle and saw him pull over to allow his three passengers to get out before turning onto a divided four-lane road that was heavy with rush-hour traffic and wet from the rain that had started that afternoon. Once he reached the congested road, Gibbs began weaving through traffic, refusing to stop even after he rear-ended an SUV with enough force to [shear] off that vehicle’s driver-side rear wheel. Seconds *725 later, Officer Stuckey caught up and performed a PIT maneuver, bumping Gibbs’s vehicle and causing it to hit the raised median dividing the road and come to a halt. Other officers quickly arrived on the scene, and one of those officers called an ambulance, which transported Gibbs to a local hospital where doctors treated his gunshot wound. Additionally, while still at the hospital, another Smyrna police officer informed Gibbs that he was under arrest.
Thereafter, the [s]tate charged Gibbs, via indictment, with one count of aggravated assault, one count of obstruction of a police officer, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and one count of reckless driving. Gibbs was tried, and at the conclusion of his trial, the jury convicted him on all counts in the indictment.

Gibbs, 334 Ga. App. XXVI (citations and footnote omitted).

2. Effective assistance of counsel.

Gibbs argues that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel in two respects: failure to impeach Officer Stuckey with a prior inconsistent statement and failure to properly object to admission of a medical record that placed his character in issue. Absent the combined effect of those trial counsel errors, he argues, the outcome of the trial would have been different,.

To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, Gibbs must satisfy a two-prong test. He

must show [both] that trial counsel’s performance [was deficient in that it] fell below a reasonable standard of conduct and that [it was prejudicial because] there existed a reasonable probability that the outcome of the case would have been different, had it not been for counsel’s deficient performance. If [Gibbs] fails to [prove] either prong of the [two-part] test, this relieves the reviewing court of the need to address the other prong.

Scott v. State, 290 Ga. 883, 889 (7) (725 SE2d 305) (2012) (citations and punctuation omitted). Gibbs’s arguments fail the deficient performance prong. So we do not address prejudice.

(a) Impeachment.

Gibbs argues that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to impeach Officer Stuckey with statements he made in a police department interview shortly after the incident that were inconsistent with his trial testimony At trial, Officer Stuckey testified that he drew his *726 weapon after Gibbs hit him with his vehicle the first time. But in the police department interview, he never mentioned that Gibbs hit him twice. This inconsistency, Gibbs argues, could have persuaded the jury that Officer Stuckey wrongfully drew his gun immediately upon exiting his car — when his encounter with Gibbs was still only a first-tier encounter — and so that Gibbs had the right to resist or flee and to disregard Officer Stuckey’s orders to stop. He also argues that this alleged impeachment evidence would have aided the jury in judging Officer Stuckey’s credibility

We see no material contradiction. In his police department interview, Officer Stuckey testified that, as soon as he got out of his car, Gibbs drove toward him. Officer Stuckey explained that he “immediately drew on him because he was coming at [Officer Stuckey] ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
798 S.E.2d 308, 340 Ga. App. 723, 2017 WL 986006, 2017 Ga. App. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibbs-v-the-state-gactapp-2017.