15 results for 'cat:"Ineffective Assistance" AND cat:"Jury Instructions"'.
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and a firearm offense. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions for shooting the victim 16 times, including evidence that defendant told his coworkers he hated the victim and fantasized about killing him. The trial court correctly refused to give defendant's requested jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter. The victim's actions in yelling, cursing and threatening to get a gun were not enough to provoke a sudden, irresistible passion in a reasonable person to warrant the injury instruction. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object to testimony from defendant's coworkers. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: S24A0405, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Agee finds the lower court improperly rejected the inmate's request for a new trial on perjury charges. The inmate argued he deserved a new trial because his counsel was ineffective for failing to appeal erroneous jury instructions. The state agrees that counsel was ineffective on this issue and the inmate is entitled to a new trial. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-6272, Categories: Habeas, ineffective Assistance, jury Instructions
J. Markle finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of rape and aggravated sodomy. The trial court did not commit any error by failing to instruct the jury on attacking a witness's credibility. Evidence of defendant's prior statutory rape conviction was correctly admitted because it was relevant to defendant's identity and intent. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel performed deficiently. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Markle, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: A23A1753, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. Boggs finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Defendant failed to show that his substantial rights were affected by the trial court's failure to give the jury an instruction on no duty to retreat. The trial court correctly gave the jury a sequential unanimity instruction on involuntary manslaughter as a lesser offense of murder. Defendant failed to show that he was prejudiced by his trial counsel's alleged deficiencies. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Boggs, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A0906, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Pinson finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's convictions and to allow the jury to reject defendant's theory of self-defense. The trial court correctly instructed the jury on simple assault and defendant failed to show that the trial court committed any error in failing to charge the jury on the lesser offenses of felony or misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Pinson, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: S23A0802, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
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J. Wilson finds that defendant was improperly convicted of possessing a weapon without a valid license because counsel requested a jury instruction on temporary possession even though defendant admitted he kept the gun a year after his license expired. Instead, counsel should have raised the defense of voluntary surrender since defendant intended to turn the weapon in for cash under a police buy-back program. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 27, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Weapons, jury Instructions
J. Kennedy finds that the lower court properly dismissed defendant's post-conviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Even if defendant were entitled to a less-included offense instruction on theft, he has not shown a reasonable probability that he would have been found guilty of theft rather than armed robbery had the jury been differently instructed. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: 220153, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Theft, jury Instructions
J. Luthy finds that defendant was entitled to an adverse inference jury instruction highlighting an officer's failure to activate his body-worn camera before arresting defendant for failure to stop. The evidence that he was driving before the vehicle was abandoned was relatively weak while the Adverse Instruction Statute's factors weigh in favor of an instruction. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 20210416-CA, Categories: ineffective Assistance, jury Instructions
J. Randolph finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of driving under the influence (DUI) third offense. Defendant was pulled over after almost colliding with a police vehicle on a roadway. During the traffic stop, the officer saw an open beer can in the console of the vehicle and smelled alcohol on the defendant, resulting in a certified DUI officer being called to the scene. The certified DUI officer administered a field sobriety test, which defendant failed, and she was taken into custody and ticketed for careless driving and driving under the influence. Defendant argues the lower court’s handling of jury instructions prejudiced the outcome of her trial, and that she received ineffective assistance from trial counsel. The instant court finds no error in the lower court’s handling of jury instructions and that the defendant abandoned her ineffective assistance of counsel claim by failing to state an issue. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court, Judge: Randolph, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 2022-KA-00754-SCT, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Dui, jury Instructions
J. Bethel finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, aggravated assault and a firearm offense. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a directed verdict because there was evidence allowing the jury to find that defendant was a knowing participant when he started a dispute with the victim. Defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to request a jury charge on good character evidence. Defendant failed to show that the trial outcome would have been different if the jury had received the charge. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Bethel, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: S23A0670, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. McFadden finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion for a new trial on her convictions for criminal attempt to commit murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and firearm offenses. Defendant failed to show that she was prejudiced by her trial counsel's failure to move to recuse the trial judge. However, the trial court incorrectly limited its jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of reckless conduct to only one of the three counts of aggravated assault. At least some evidence warranted the instruction as to the count for family violence aggravated assault. Affirmed in part.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: McFadden, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: A23A1119, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Assault, jury Instructions
J. Warren finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Defendant failed to show that the trial outcome was likely affected by the trial court's failure to instruct the jury on justification and no duty to retreat. The evidence supporting defendant's self-defense theory was weak. Defendant also failed to show that the trial court committed any error by failing to instruct the jury on accomplice corroboration. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: Warren, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: S23A0550, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions
J. Baggett finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of trafficking persons for sexual servitude, criminal attempt to commit child molestation and a firearm offense. The trial court correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial and found that defendant's trial counsel was not deficient for failing to file a motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a traffic stop. Officers had reasonable suspicion that defendant's vehicle was being driven by the person who had exchanged text messages with an undercover officer to pay for sex with an underage girl. Defendant failed to show that the trial court's jury instructions on the sex trafficking or child molestation offenses affected the trial outcome or confused the jury. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Dillard, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: A23A0263, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender, jury Instructions
J. LaGrua finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of murder and correctly denied defendant's motion for a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. Sufficient evidence was presented to support defendant's conviction, including evidence that defendant fatally shot the victim in front of multiple eyewitnesses. Defendant failed to show that his trial counsel's performance was deficient or that he was prejudiced by his counsel's failure to request a jury instruction on confession corroboration. Affirmed.
Court: Georgia Supreme Court, Judge: LaGrua, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: S23A0166, Categories: ineffective Assistance, Murder, jury Instructions