Slade v. State, S98A1493.
| Citation | 509 S.E.2d 618,270 Ga. 305 |
| Decision Date | 04 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. S98A1493.,S98A1493. |
| Parties | SLADE v. The STATE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Richard Milam, Garland & Milam P.C., Jackson, for Robert Slade.
Mark Stephen Daniel, Asst. Dist. Atty., Forsyth, Tommy Kenneth Floyd, Dist. Atty., McDonough, Thurbert E. Baker, Atty. Gen., Elizabeth Lewis Jaeger, Asst. Atty. Gen., Paula K. Smith, Senior Asst. Atty. Gen., Department of Law, Atlanta, for the State.
Robert Slade's judgments of conviction for malice murder and aggravated assault were affirmed on appeal to this Court, but the case was remanded to the trial court for a hearing on his Batson1 challenge and claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Slade v. State, 267 Ga. 868, 485 S.E.2d 726 (1997). On remand, the trial court determined that the State offered race-neutral explanations for the exercise of its peremptory strikes, and that Slade received effective assistance of trial counsel. Finding no error, we affirm.
1. Slade, an African-American male, submits that the State violated Batson in exercising all of its four peremptory strikes to eliminate African-American members of the panel.
On remand, the prosecutor explained that he had personal knowledge at the time of voir dire that four prospective jurors were related to individuals who had been prosecuted by his office, and he exercised the four peremptory strikes to eliminate those jurors. One of the four jurors was excused for the additional reason that he was single, unemployed and had no visible means of support. The selected jurors consisted of eight white males and females, three African-American females, and one Hispanic.
We have held that prior convictions or arrest histories of a family member are sufficiently race-neutral reasons under Batson and Henry v. State, 265 Ga. 732(2), 462 S.E.2d 737 (1995), and that a prosecutor's reasonable suspicions about a prospective juror's impartiality in that situation may well justify the exercise of a peremptory strike. Davis v. State, 263 Ga. 5(10), 426 S.E.2d 844 (1993). Where a further explanation based on a juror's unemployment is coupled with other race-neutral reasons, we will not attribute to the State a discriminatory intent in excusing that juror. See Redding v. State, 219 Ga.App. 182(1), 464 S.E.2d 824 (1995). Slade has not established that the explanations proffered by the State "were merely pretexts for purposeful ... discrimination." Henry v. State, supra at 734, 462 S.E.2d 737. Accordingly, we find no Batson violation.
2. Slade contends that his trial counsel was ineffective in (a) failing to object to certain prejudicial testimony which was subject to valid hearsay objections; (b) failing to challenge the validity of a search warrant executed at an apartment alleged to be Slade's residence, and failing to move to suppress certain evidence seized pursuant to that warrant; (c) failing to proffer certain psychological documentation in support of a motion for continuance and thus failing to create a record for review; and (d) failing to object to the admission of bullets recovered from the crime scene which were never properly identified at trial. 2
Trial counsel testified on remand that he made the tactical decision to refrain from objecting to the hearsay testimony because he believed an objection would draw undue attention to the statements; a portion of the hearsay testimony was not relevant to the case and did not harm the defendant; and he believed the hearsay was merely cumulative of other admissible evidence.
As for the failure to challenge the search warrant and items seized pursuant thereto, counsel testified that Slade advised him he did not reside at the address listed on the warrant. Since it was the intention of the defense that Slade would testify in his own behalf, trial counsel made the strategic decision to raise the validity of the warrant during the defense case. For the same reasons, counsel decided not to object to the admission of evidence seized pursuant to the warrant.3 Counsel admitted that in hindsight "it probably would have been better had I objected," because Slade did not testify. However, counsel's strategic decisions were predicated on the circumstances as they existed at the time of trial.
Hudson v. State, 250 Ga. 479, 486(8), 299 S.E.2d 531 (1983). "Particularly in regard to matters of trial strategy and tactic, effectiveness is not judged by hindsight [or] result." Williams v. State, 214 Ga.App. 106, 446 S.E.2d 789 (1994). We find that counsel articulated valid strategic decisions as to the foregoing grounds, and that strategy did not amount to ineffective assistance.
As for the failure to tender psychological documents in support of a motion for continuance, counsel testified that on the eve of trial, Slade...
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