Lang v. State

487 S.E.2d 485, 226 Ga. App. 729, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2316, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 749
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 6, 1997
DocketA97A0894
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 487 S.E.2d 485 (Lang v. 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
Lang v. State, 487 S.E.2d 485, 226 Ga. App. 729, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2316, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 749 (Ga. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Birdsong, Presiding Judge.

Appellant Edward Van Lang a/k/a Edward Brian Lang and Brian Lang appeals his conviction of sale of a controlled substance (cocaine) in violation of OCGA § 16-13-30 (b). He enumerates six errors. Held:

1. Judicial notice is taken of the record and transcript, pertaining to appellant, in Case No. A96A1327, Lang v. State. Rogers v. State, 195 Ga. App. 446 (1) (394 SE2d 116).

2. On appeal the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict, and appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, an appellate court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility. Grant v. State, 195 Ga. App. 463 (1) (393 SE2d 737). Review of the transcript reveals ample evidence from which any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty of the offense of sale of cocaine of which he was found guilty. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560).

3. Appellant contends the trial court erred in failing to give his requested instruction on mistaken identification as that was his sole defense to the sale of cocaine charge. Compare Young v. State, 226 Ga. 553, 557 (7) (176 SE2d 52) with Micheli v. State, 222 Ga. 361 (149 SE2d 803) and Hubbard v. State, 220 Ga. App. 678 (469 SE2d 866) (whole court case with four judges in dissent). Pretermitting this issue is whether appellant failed to preserve this enumerated error for appeal. Appellant did not take any exception to the trial court’s failure to give his requested instruction on mistaken identification, at the conclusion of the charge to the jury, after being expressly [730]*730asked by the trial court whether he had “any exceptions” to the charges. Such an election constituted waiver of any such charging error on appeal. Compare Weathers v. State, 202 Ga. App. 849, 852 (3) (415 SE2d 690) and Hamby v. State, 158 Ga. App. 265 (3) (279 SE2d 715); see Wright v. State, 182 Ga. App. 570 (1) (356 SE2d 531). Accordingly, we need not order a supplementation of the trial record in an attempt to determine the validity of the State’s contention that appellant withdrew this request to charge at the charge conference; nor need we determine if mistaken identification was in fact appellant’s sole defense.

4. After the jury had been deliberating approximately an hour and 25 minutes, a juror apparently wanted to make a phone call; the trial court called for the jury and ascertained that the vote stood at 10 and 2 but did not ascertain whether the majority were voting for acquittal or conviction. The trial court was informed that the vote had shifted slightly and that the jury was still discussing the case and “may be making slight progress.” The court then sua sponte gave a modified Allen charge. The Allen charge on its four corners reveals that the trial court did not suggest a particular verdict or even require that a verdict be reached by this particular jury. The jury was instructed to return to the jury room for a reasonable time to examine their differences in the spirit of fairness and candor, “with a proper regard for and deference to the opinions of each other,” and to “review again the evidence together and make every possible effort to reach a verdict which you, in good conscience, can subscribe as your own.” The charge conveyed the cautionary instruction that the court was not asking or suggesting that any juror give up honestly held convictions. See Tyson v. State, 217 Ga. App. 428 (1) (457 SE2d 690). The decision to give an Allen charge does not require that the jury be deadlocked. Moore v. State, 215 Ga. App. 626, 627 (3) (451 SE2d 534). Under the totality of the circumstances, the trial court’s election to give this particular Allen charge was not a breach of discretion, did not constitute reversible error, and was not unconstitutionally coercive. Id. Moreover, appellant’s counsel affirmatively stated on the record that there was no exception to the Allen charge.

5. Appellant’s enumeration of inadequacy of counsel “at his trial” is without merit. The proper standard of review of such a claim is the two-prong test of Strickland v. Washington, 446 U. S. 668 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674). Decisions such as what instructions to request and what witnesses to call are matters of trial tactics and strategy. See generally Van Alstine v. State, 263 Ga. 1 (426 SE2d 360); Reddin v. State, 223 Ga. App. 148 (3) (476 SE2d 882). Further, appellant’s trial record reveals that his trial counsel timely filed cogent pretrial motions and were adequately prepared for trial. Datz v. State, 210 Ga. App. 517, 519 (3) (a) (436 SE2d 506); Reddin, supra at 151 (3) (e). [731]*731The trial court found that appellant’s trial attorneys, Ms. Griggs and Ms. Blair, were effective during all phases of the trial; inherent within this legal conclusion is the finding that appellant’s trial counsel provided appellant adequate representation throughout appellant’s trial. A trial court’s finding of adequacy must be upheld unless clearly erroneous. Datz, supra at 519 (3) (d). Appellant has failed to show that the trial court’s finding was clearly erroneous. Rather, the appellate records reveal that appellant’s counsel were not deficient within the meaning of Strickland. See generally Reddin v. State, supra at 148 (3); Datz, supra. Appellant failed to carry his burden and has failed to overcome the broad presumption of effective assistance of counsel. Reddin, supra at 152. This enumeration is without merit.

6. Appellant, proceeding pro se, made a motion for continuance at the commencement of his new trial hearing. The trial court denied the motion and subsequently denied appellant’s amended motion for new trial as well. On the date of his hearing, appellant was no longer represented by his trial attorney, and had filed (more than a month earlier) a motion to dismiss his retained appellate counsel, Mr. Cox. At the hearing, appellant stated that his family was going to retain a new attorney to represent him and conceded that, although he had contacted one attorney, no new appellate attorney was present at the hearing to represent him. Appellant further stated that he could proceed with the hearing but that he was only prepared to “go so far” as to the numerous motions which he had filed. He also confirmed that he had not requested either the trial court or the State to appoint an attorney to represent him at the hearing. Although appellant stated he would “prefer to have an attorney present” at the motion for new trial hearing and did not wish to waive his rights to an attorney, he conceded he had said he or his family would hire an attorney of his choice and had not asked for an appointed counsel.

It is reflected by the totality of the record that appellant was fully aware of the dangers associated with his proceeding pro se; this is unequivocally illustrated, for example, by his belated argument to the trial court that he was seeking a continuance because he needed assistance of counsel as he could “only go so far” by himself. Further, at no time after having dismissed his appellate attorney did appellant assert to the trial court that he was indigent and desired counsel to be appointed to represent him.

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Related

Branton v. State
573 S.E.2d 475 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2002)
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523 S.E.2d 84 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
487 S.E.2d 485, 226 Ga. App. 729, 97 Fulton County D. Rep. 2316, 1997 Ga. App. LEXIS 749, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lang-v-state-gactapp-1997.