Wallace v. State

750 S.E.2d 302, 294 Ga. 257, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3696, 2013 WL 7045924, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 1007
Supreme Court of Georgia·Decided November 25, 2013·No. S13A0988·Published·Cited by 25 cases

Opinions

NAHMIAS, Justice.

Appellant Corey Wallace was found guilty of felony murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of Willie Merritt.1 On appeal, he contends that the trial court’s charge prevented the jury from properly considering a voluntary manslaughter verdict on the felony murder counts of his indictment and that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance. We affirm.

1. The evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, showed the following. On the night of July 4, 2003, Appellant’s girlfriend drove him, Demetrius Ransom, and Randall McCrary to the Body Tap, an exotic dance club, where they encountered Merritt and Vincent Jenkins, whom Ransom knew. Ransom ended up playing pool with Merritt. The game started off friendly but became contentious, and a fight broke out. Merritt and several friends, including Jenkins, severely beat Appellant before bouncers intervened and escorted the two groups out of the club separately.

As Appellant sat in his girlfriend’s car about to drive away, he caught a glimpse of his face in a mirror and was infuriated by the extent of his injuries. Appellant then loaded his handgun, got out of the car, and chased after Merritt, who ran away. Merritt tripped, and when Appellant caught up with him, Appellant shot him six times, once in the back and then, as Merritt lay on the ground, once in his chest, left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. Merritt died of his [258] injuries. Meanwhile, Ransom also got out of the car and pistol-whipped Jenkins.

Appellant and Ransom were jointly indicted for murder and other crimes. Ransom pled guilty to aggravated assault against Jenkins and agreed to cooperate with the State. Ransom testified at trial that he saw Appellant shoot Merritt. Appellant’s then-girlfriend testified that she saw him with a pistol during the confrontation; that Ransom did not shoot Merritt; and that she later heard Appellant say that he shot someone. McCrary testified that he saw Appellant chasing Merritt as Merritt ran away, and the forensic evidence indicated that only one gun was fired at the crime scene at the time of the incident.

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 and sentenced. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). See also Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32, 33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009) (“ ‘It was for the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence.’ ” (citation omitted)).

2. Relying on Edge u. State, 261 Ga. 865, 867 (414 SE2d 463) (1992), Appellant contends the trial court failed to instruct the jury that if it found the aggravated assault that was the underlying felony for one of the felony murder counts was the result of provocation and passion, then the jury could not find him guilty of felony murder and would be authorized, but not required, to find him guilty of voluntary manslaughter. However, Edge has been applied only to felony murder convictions in which the underlying felony — typically aggravated assault—was “an integral part of the killing” of the victim, not where the underlying felony was “independent of the killing itself.” Id. at 867, n. 3. See, e.g., Grimes v. State, 293 Ga. 559, 561 (748 SE2d 441) (2013) (holding that Edge did not apply to defendant’s felony murder conviction based on the underlying felony of attempted armed robbery, which was not an integral part of the killing). In particular, this Court has twice declined to apply Edge to felony murder convictions based on the felony of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. See Lawson v. State, 280 Ga. 881, 883 (635 SE2d 134) (2006); Sims v. State, 265 Ga. 35, 36 (453 SE2d 33) (1995).

Appellant’s argument that Edge undermines his conviction for felony murder based on aggravated assault is moot, because in its order on Appellant’s motion for new trial, the trial court vacated that conviction, so the only felony murder conviction Appellant now has is based on the felony of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. And [259] as to that conviction, Appellant has given us no persuasive reason to depart from our holdings in Lawson and Sims.2

3. Appellant also contends that his trial counsel provided constitutionally ineffective assistance by failing to impeach Ransom with prior convictions and by not requesting a limiting instruction on Appellant’s prior conviction.

To prevail on this claim, Appellant must show that his trial counsel’s performance was professionally deficient and that, but for the deficiency, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been more favorable to him. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668, 687, 694 (104 SCt 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984). “This burden, although not impossible to carry, is a heavy one.” Young v. State, 292 Ga. 443, 445 (738 SE2d 575) (2013). And the reviewing court need not “address both components of the inquiry if the defendant makes an insufficient showing on one.” Strickland, 466 U. S. at 697.

Boothe v. State, 293 Ga. 285, 295 (745 SE2d 594) (2013).

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Wallace v. State, 750 S.E.2d 302, 294 Ga. 257, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3696, 2013 WL 7045924, 2013 Ga. LEXIS 1007 (Ga. 2013).

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