Nolton v. State

Supreme Court of Georgia

Nolton v. State

429 S.E.2d 522, 263 Ga. 103

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia

DecidedMay 3, 1993

DocketS93A0179

StatusPublished

This text of 429 S.E.2d 522 (Nolton 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

Nolton v. State, 429 S.E.2d 522, 263 Ga. 103 (Ga. 1993).

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Opinion

Hunt, Presiding Justice.

Kenneth Nolton shot and killed Wendell Neal with a handgun and robbed and wounded David Peterson. He was convicted of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and sentenced to life imprisonment for felony murder and terms of years for the remaining convictions.¹ He appeals, enumerating as error only the trial court’s finding that trial counsel was not ineffective. We affirm.

Nolton and his co-defendants² broke into Wendell Neal’s apartment and Nolton shot Neal, who was unarmed, two times at point blank range when Neal did not immediately comply with his demands for money, drugs and jewelry. Around the same time, Nolton, or one of his co-defendants, shot and robbed Neal’s friend, David Peterson.

1. Having reviewed the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s determination, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Nolton guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. The record amply supports the trial court’s determination that trial counsel was not ineffective under the standards of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1974), adopted by this court in Smith v. Francis, 253 Ga. 782 (325 SE2d 362) (1985).

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur.

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Hunt, Presiding Justice.

Kenneth Nolton shot and killed Wendell Neal with a handgun and robbed and wounded David Peterson. He was convicted of felony murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and sentenced to life imprisonment for felony murder and terms of years for the remaining convictions.¹ He appeals, enumerating as error only the trial court’s finding that trial counsel was not ineffective. We affirm.

Nolton and his co-defendants² broke into Wendell Neal’s apartment and Nolton shot Neal, who was unarmed, two times at point blank range when Neal did not immediately comply with his demands for money, drugs and jewelry. Around the same time, Nolton, or one of his co-defendants, shot and robbed Neal’s friend, David Peterson.

1. Having reviewed the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s determination, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Nolton guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. The record amply supports the trial court’s determination that trial counsel was not ineffective under the standards of Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1974), adopted by this court in Smith v. Francis, 253 Ga. 782 (325 SE2d 362) (1985).

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur.

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429 S.E.2d 522, 263 Ga. 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nolton-v-state-ga-1993.

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