Andrews v. State, 293 Ga. 701

Andrews, Calhoun, and Davis chased Cornelius Lowe to steal drugs; Lowe was shot multiple times and died. A .22 gun and matching Winchester .22 bullets were recovered; footprint and ammunition evidence linked defendants to the scene; a box of similar bullets was found at Andrews’s home.
Co-defendants and Andrews made post-arrest admissions to others and to cellmates implicating themselves in the robbery/shooting; threats were made to potential witnesses.
Andrews was indicted for malice murder and felony murder, tried by jury, convicted of both, and sentenced to life for malice murder; felony-murder conviction vacated by operation of law.
Andrews appealed, raising ineffective assistance (failure to call alibi witness Africa Hill), admission of co-defendant hearsay, and denial of a mistrial over alleged prosecutorial statements about future dangerousness.
Trial counsel testified he did not call Hill due to inconsistent statements and phone-record issues; Andrews did not lodge contemporaneous objections at trial to the challenged hearsay or closing-argument remarks.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for murder convictions	Andrews argued he was at girlfriend’s house and not a participant	State argued forensic, testimonial, and admissions evidence linked Andrews to the killing	Evidence sufficient; convictions affirmed (Jackson standard)
Ineffective assistance for not calling alibi witness	Andrews: counsel should have called Africa Hill to corroborate alibi	Counsel: Hill gave inconsistent statements and phone records undermined credibility; strategic choice not to call her	No ineffective assistance; strategic decision reasonable under Strickland
Admission of co-defendant hearsay at trial	Andrews: hearsay statements of co-defendants were improperly admitted	State: no contemporaneous objection was made at trial; issues waived	Issue waived on appeal for lack of contemporaneous objection
Denial of mistrial for alleged future-dangerousness comments	Andrews: prosecutor’s closing implied Andrews’ future dangerousness; trial court erred denying mistrial	State: Andrews failed to contemporaneously object or move for mistrial; co-defendant’s untimely motion does not preserve error	Waived for failure to object; no reviewable error on appeal

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance two-prong test)
Green v. State, 291 Ga. 287 (counsel’s reasonable strategy defeats ineffective-assistance claim)
Odom v. State, 279 Ga. 599 (evidence permitting finding of party liability)
Bailey v. State, 291 Ga. 144 (contemporaneous objection requirement to preserve hearsay error)
Henderson v. State, 285 Ga. 240 (failure to object waives appellate review of closing argument)
Tennyson v. State, 282 Ga. 92 (untimely mistrial motions are not preserved on appeal)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (vacatur of felony-murder conviction by operation of law)
Robinson v. State, 277 Ga. 75 (appellate review accepts trial-court fact findings and independently applies law)
Fuller v. State, 277 Ga. 505 (Strickland burden discussion)
Sterling v. State, 267 Ga. 209 (improper future-dangerousness arguments)