Background

• Badger was convicted after a bifurcated trial of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and sentenced to 20 years with 12 to be served in confinement.
• restitution of $36,102.38 was ordered jointly with co-defendant Martin to Nelms.
• Badger appealed the denial of a motion for new trial alleging ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to communicate a plea offer.
• Trial counsel testified that a verbal five-year plea offer existed; he did not recall communicating it to Badger, citing Badger’s insistence on innocence and rejection of any guilty plea.
• Badger testified he would have accepted the offer if it had been communicated to him, and that there was no doubt he would have pleaded guilty.
• The trial court found counsel’s failure to timely communicate the offer unreasonable but concluded no reasonable probability existed that Badger would have accepted the offer.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Lloyd v. State, 258 Ga. 645, 373 S.E.2d 1 (1988) (plea bargaining requires showing of prejudice at least in showing a reasonable probability of acceptance)
• Cleveland v. State, 285 Ga. 142, 674 S.E.2d 289 (2009) (standard for prejudice in ineffective-assistance claim in plea process)
• Chatman v. State, 306 Ga. App. 218, 702 S.E.2d 51 (2010) (affirms evaluation of credibility and factual findings on plea-ineffectiveness issues)
• Hughes v. State, 289 Ga. 98, 709 S.E.2d 764 (2011) (recognizes standard applied to ineffective assistance and plea processes)