Guffie v. State

818 S.E.2d 608, 304 Ga. 352
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided August 27, 2018·No. S18A0861·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Hunstein, Justice *610**352Following a jury trial, Quantavious Guffie was found guilty of malice murder and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Drexel Berry.1 Guffie appeals, raising claims of trial court error and ineffective assistance of counsel; finding no error, we affirm.

The underlying facts of this case have already come before this Court in the appeal of Guffie's co-defendant Freedell Benton, with whom Guffie shared a joint trial. There, this Court summarized the facts as follows:

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, the record shows that, on May 29, 2013, [Guffie] and his co-defendant, [Benton], were part of a group of 15 to 20 people hanging around an apartment complex located [in Fulton County] at 574 Cooper Street. The victim, Berry, arrived at the complex with Joshua Smith, looking to purchase some marijuana. The group informed Berry that they had no marijuana to sell, and Berry began to leave. One of the members of the group, Antoine Jester, was wheelchair bound, and informed others, including Benton, that Berry had played a role in putting Jester in a wheelchair, because Berry was one of the individuals involved in a prior shooting **353that had paralyzed Jester. After speaking with Jester, Benton stepped into the street to flag down Smith's car and prevent Berry from leaving. Benton informed Berry that if he returned to the apartment complex, Benton would sell him some marijuana. While Benton spoke to Smith and Berry, ... Guffie entered one of the apartments and retrieved a handgun. Berry agreed to return to the complex while Smith waited in the car, and Benton led him to a courtyard area behind the complex where Guffie joined them.
Two eyewitnesses from the apartment complex who saw the men near the courtyard stated that[,] following a brief discussion between the three men, Berry began to run, while Benton and Guffie pursued and fired guns at Berry. The three ran out of the witnesses' sight, but more shots could be heard coming from the courtyard. A few minutes later, only Benton and Guffie emerged from the stairwell leading to the courtyard.
A police officer found Berry at a house located at 580 Pryor Street. Berry had moved from the apartment complex to the house, leaving a blood trail back to the courtyard where police found ten 9mm shell casings and one .380 caliber shell casing. Berry had been shot three times, once in the arm, once in the leg, and once in the back. Police found Berry drifting in and out of consciousness, and moved him to a hospital, where he died.

Benton v. State, 301 Ga. 100, 100-101, 799 S.E.2d 743 (2017).

1. Though not raised by Guffie as error, in accord with this Court's standard practice in appeals of murder cases, we have reviewed the record and find that the facts, *611as stated above, were sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Guffie guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

2. Guffie contends that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to seek a continuance in response to his co-defendant's speedy trial demand and by failing to engage in plea negotiations with the prosecution.

To succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance, an appellant bears the heavy burden of showing "both that his counsel performed deficiently and that, but for the deficiency, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been more favorable." Slaton v. State, 303 Ga. 651, 652, 814 S.E.2d 344 (2018). See also **354Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

To prove deficient performance, one must show that his attorney performed at trial in an objectively unreasonable way considering all the circumstances and in the light of prevailing professional norms. Courts reviewing ineffectiveness claims must apply a strong presumption that counsel's conduct fell within the wide range of reasonable professional performance. Thus, decisions regarding trial tactics and strategy may form the basis for an ineffectiveness claim only if they were so patently unreasonable that no competent attorney would have followed such a course. If the defendant fails to satisfy either the "deficient performance" or the "prejudice" prong of the Strickland test, this Court is not required to examine the other.

(Citation omitted.) Slaton, 303 Ga. at 652-653, 814 S.E.2d 344.

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Guffie v. State, 818 S.E.2d 608, 304 Ga. 352 (Ga. 2018).

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