Columbus v. State
| Decision Date | 15 March 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. S98A1834.,S98A1834. |
| Citation | 270 Ga. 658,513 S.E.2d 498 |
| Parties | COLUMBUS v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Paul Joseph McCord, Decatur, for Larry Columbus.
John Thomas Morgan, Dist. Atty., Barbara Blaine Conroy, Sarah Crossman Sullivan, Asst. Dist. Attys., Decatur, Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Daniel Garland Ashburn, Asst. Atty. Gen., Paula K. Smith, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Department of Law, Atlanta, for the State. SEARS, Justice.
The appellant, Larry Columbus, appeals from his conviction for the felony murder of Melinda Colbert.1 On appeal, Columbus raises numerous issues, including that his trial counsel was ineffective; that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a continuance; and that the trial court erred in failing to charge on lawful act, unlawful manner involuntary manslaughter. Finding no merit to these contentions, we affirm.
On March 21, 1997, at approximately 4:00 a.m., police responded to an emergency call at the home of the appellant, Larry Columbus, and the victim, Melinda Colbert. Police found Colbert slumped on the floor of the bedroom, with her head at the foot of the bed and her feet at the head of the bed. The police also found that Colbert had suffered a knife wound just over her right collar bone. Colbert died from this injury.
Columbus and Colbert had been living together for about two years. Columbus gave a statement to police on the evening of the crime. He stated that that night he had been visiting a girlfriend, where he "did some cocaine, smoked some marijuana, and was drinking alcohol." He added that when he returned home about 2:00 a.m., Colbert accused him of cheating on her, and they had an argument and a physical altercation, which resulted in Colbert tearing Columbus's undershirt and scratching his chest. The officer who took Columbus's statement testified that Columbus referred to this incident as "Round One," and that Columbus separated this incident from the actual stabbing. The officer added that Columbus told him that sometime later, Colbert approached him with a knife by walking across the bed on her knees. Columbus stated that she swung the knife at him, and that when she did so, she fell off the bed and stabbed herself. The officer testified that with Columbus's direction, he (the officer) drew a diagram of the crime scene that indicated, among other things, the direction the victim fell off the bed. That direction showed the victim falling with her head toward the foot of the bed. Although Columbus later testified at trial that the victim first fell toward the head of the bed, and that he then helped Colbert stand up and laid her down with her head toward the foot of the bed, the officer who drew the diagram with Columbus testified that Columbus never gave him this explanation.
One of the officers who investigated the crime scene testified that there were blood stains at various places in the room and on Colbert's clothing that were inconsistent with Columbus's statement. The officer testified, in particular, that there was blood in several places by the victim's feet that could not have gotten there if the victim had merely fallen toward the foot of the bed and stabbed herself. There was also evidence that two of the officers investigating the crime rolled Colbert's body to one side, and that, as they did so, a knife fell out of the folds of bed covers that were piled partially under her, but mostly next to her. One of the officers testified that the victim's body was not located in a position where the knife could have been in either of her hands.
The medical examiner testified that the wound Colbert sustained was about two inches deep; that when the wound was made, the sharp edge of the knife was in the 9:00 o'clock position, and that the blunt edge was in the 3:00 o'clock position; that the knife was moving slightly front to back as it entered her body; and that the knife crossed the midline of the body and severed Colbert's subclavian vein, causing her death. Because of the location of the wound above the victim's collar bone, because of the angle of the knife as it entered the victim's body, and because, according to the medical examiner, a person's natural reflex would be to move the knife away from her body as she fell or as she felt pain from the knife, the medical examiner testified that it was unlikely that the victim could have created the wound that she sustained by falling and stabbing herself. He also testified that he was 98 percent sure that the stabbing was a homicide.
At trial, Columbus testified on direct examination that when he came home about 2:00 a.m., he and Colbert argued, but that he then went to sleep. He added that he was awakened later in the night when Colbert turned on the light in the bedroom, and came across the bed at him, walking on her knees. Columbus testified that he got up and stood by the bed, and that Colbert grabbed his undershirt and tore it, scratching him with her fingernails. He stated that he then grabbed her and "snatched her straight to the bed so I wouldn't have to hit her." According to Columbus, he then let go of her, and she laid down on the bed. Columbus testified that he did not see a knife during this altercation with the victim. Columbus added that he then told the victim, "don't lay your ass down now," "you want to fight ... get on back up." Colbert then got up, and approached Columbus by walking across the bed on her knees. Columbus testified that Colbert "then had the knife." He added that he thought she was going to swing the knife at him; that he stepped back from the bed; that she swung at him, and fell on the floor; and that he thought she stabbed herself with the knife. He added that she was never close enough to him to stab him with the knife. In testimony that was inconsistent with the diagram that Columbus helped the police officer draw during his interrogation, Columbus testified that the victim fell with her head toward the head of the bed. He added, however, that he helped her stand up and noticed blood on her stomach, and that he then laid her down with her head toward the foot of the bed. On cross-examination, when the State questioned Columbus regarding how the knife could have been found in the folds of bed covers that were located under Colbert and that made it likely that she was not holding the knife when she fell, Columbus stated that he believed that Colbert was stabbed when he first threw her on the bed, and that she then did not fall on the knife when she fell off the bed.
1. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Columbus guilty of felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt.2
2. After his trial, Columbus obtained new counsel for appeal, and filed a motion for new trial, contending, among other things, that his trial counsel was ineffective. The trial court denied Columbus's motion for new trial. In his first enumeration of error, Columbus contends that the trial court erred in this ruling. We disagree.
(a) To prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant has the burden to prove that his "counsel's actions fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that, but for the alleged ineffective act, there is a reasonable probability that the result of the proceeding would have been different."3 Moreover, 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. The object of an ineffectiveness claim is not to grade counsel's performance. If it is easier to dispose of an ineffectiveness claim on the ground of lack of sufficient prejudice, which we expect will often be so, that course should be followed. Courts should strive to ensure that ineffectiveness claims not become so burdensome to defense counsel that the entire criminal justice system suffers as a result. 4
(b) Columbus first contends that his trial counsel was ineffective because he failed to subpoena certain witnesses who Columbus asserts would have exonerated him.
In this regard, Columbus contends that his trial counsel could have subpoenaed crime lab personnel who could have testified that the victim had a blood-alcohol level of.16 grams. Columbus further contends that if the jury had had this information, it would have served to exonerate him by explaining how the victim could have fallen on the knife and not had sufficient dexterity to move it out of the way when it started to enter her body. We conclude that Columbus has failed to demonstrate that if trial counsel had subpoenaed a crime lab witness, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different. First, there was evidence before the jury that the victim had been drinking, as Columbus himself testified to that effect. Second, the state's medical examiner testified at trial that "if someone were under the influence of alcohol or drugs," it would not make a difference in his evaluation of the cause of death in this case. Third, the medical examiner's conclusion that it was unlikely the victim could have stabbed herself was not based solely on the reasoning that a person falling with a knife would try not to fall on it and would divert it away from her body if she felt pain from the knife, but also on the location of the wound and angle of entry of the wound. Finally, Columbus failed to show at the motion for new trial hearing that he had any witness to contradict the medical examiner's testimony regarding the effects of alcohol on the cause of death. For these reasons, we conclude that Columbus has failed to show a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different if trial counsel had subpoenaed a witness from the crime lab.5
We reach a similar conclusion with regard to other witnesses that Columbus alleges could have been...
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