Jones v. State

722 S.E.2d 853, 290 Ga. 576, 2012 WL 603179, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 195
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedFebruary 27, 2012
DocketS11A1829
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 722 S.E.2d 853 (Jones v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. State, 722 S.E.2d 853, 290 Ga. 576, 2012 WL 603179, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 195 (Ga. 2012).

Opinion

NAHMIAS, Justice.

Appellant Thomas Jones challenges his convictions for malice murder and other offenses stemming from the shooting death of Julius McReynolds.1 We affirm.

1. The evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, showed the following. On the night of October 27-28, 2007, Appellant and the victim were at a crowded nightclub in Statesboro, Georgia. Appellant was wearing a distinctive orange shirt. Around 12:30 a.m., Appellant and the victim began arguing, which attracted a number of their friends. The argument escalated into a fight involving Appellant, the victim, and their friends. Club bouncers pushed the crowd outside, and the victim began running toward another nightclub located about 400 feet down the road. Appellant got a gun from his car and chased the victim, firing numerous shots. The victim was found lying in the parking lot of the other club. He had been shot three times and died [577]*577from a bullet that hit his left lung and heart. Twelve shell casings were found in a dirt area in front of a building separating the nightclubs.

One eyewitness said that Appellant was wearing an orange shirt and was the shooter, and two other eyewitnesses testified that the shooter was wearing an orange shirt. After the shooting, Appellant changed into a friend’s striped shirt. He told the friend what to say to the police and not to worry about a gun that the police later found in Appellant’s car because it was not the one used in the shooting — which was true. In an interview with the police after the shooting, Appellant lied about how he got to the club and the clothing he was wearing at the time of the crimes.

The evidence in this case required the jury to determine the credibility of numerous witnesses and to resolve numerous conflicts and inconsistencies. These are decisions we rely on the jury to make. See Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32, 33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009). When viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find Appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to exclude the testimony of a prosecution witness or grant a mistrial on the ground that the State failed to produce one of the witness’s several pre-trial statements as required by OCGA § 17-16-7. If the State fails to comply with a statutory discovery requirement, the trial court

may order the state to permit the discovery or inspection, interview of the witness, grant a continuance, or, upon a showing of prejudice and bad faith, prohibit the state from introducing the evidence not disclosed or presenting the witness not disclosed, or may enter such other order as it deems just under the circumstances.

OCGA § 17-16-6.

In enacting this statute, the legislature did not impose a rigid formulation or grant an exclusive remedy for a defendant or a fatal consequence to the State for failure to comply with the discovery mandates. Instead, it cloaked the trial court with the discretion to use its own judgment to ensure a fair trial.

Higuera-Hernandez v. State, 289 Ga. 553, 557-558 (714 SE2d 236) [578]*578(2011) (citations and punctuation omitted). Thus, the remedy a trial court fashions to cure a discovery violation is reviewed on appeal only for abuse of discretion. See id.

We need not decide if the State violated the requirements of OCGA § 17-16-7 by failing to produce the witness statement.2 Appellant had other, audiotaped statements of the witness and had interviewed the witness and obtained an affidavit from him before trial, and the trial court granted Appellant an overnight continuance to give him the opportunity to review the additional statement before cross-examining the witness. The court did not abuse its discretion in fashioning this remedy. Indeed, the record supports the court’s ruling that the State did not act in bad faith with regard to disclosure of the witness statement, and Appellant does not argue that it did, so the more severe remedies that Appellant sought were not applicable. See OCGA § 17-16-6.

3. Appellant contends that his counsel at trial was constitutionally ineffective in preventing him from exercising his right to testify. To prevail on this claim, Appellant

must show that his trial counsel provided deficient performance and that, but for that unprofessional performance, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the proceeding would have been different. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668, 687, 694 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984). In examining an ineffectiveness claim, a court need not “address both components of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on one. In particular, a court need not determine whether counsel’s performance was deficient before examining the prejudice suffered by the defendant as a result of the alleged deficiencies.”

Watkins v. State, 289 Ga. 359, 362 (711 SE2d 655) (2011) (citation omitted).

Because we conclude that Appellant has failed to show prejudice, we need not decide whether the record demands the conclusion that his defense counsel provided deficient performance by advising Appellant that he could not testify at trial.3 See United States v. Teague, 953 F2d 1525, 1534 (11th Cir. 1992) (holding that if trial [579]*579counsel prevents a defendant testifying in his own defense, this conduct falls below an objective standard of reasonableness and establishes deficient performance). Even if defense counsel told Appellant that he would not be called to testify, as counsel said at the motion for new trial hearing, Appellant has not shown prejudice as a result of that advice.

After the close of the State’s case and after defense counsel indicated to the trial court that Appellant would not testify, the court had an extensive and direct on-the-record colloquy with Appellant about his right to testify. The court informed Appellant, among other things, that the right to testify was his right, that he could “testify if [he] want[ed] to,” and that the decision whether to testify was “to be made by [him], of course, in consultation with [his] attorney.” The court concluded, “If you want to testify, take the stand. If you don’t, don’t take the stand.” Appellant, who had been sworn in, said that he understood each piece of the court’s advice. In State v. Nejad, 286 Ga.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
722 S.E.2d 853, 290 Ga. 576, 2012 WL 603179, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 195, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-state-ga-2012.