Brewer v. State, 301 Ga. 819

On December 13, 2013, Brewer and victim Larry Strickland argued over a $100 loan; Brewer grabbed a handgun, chased Strickland, and shot him; witnesses testified Strickland was unarmed and Brewer stole money from the victim and fled.
Brewer was arrested 10 days later; he testified at trial claiming self-defense, asserting he felt a gun on Strickland during the confrontation. Witness testimony contradicted Brewer’s account.
Brewer was indicted for malice murder, felony murder (vacated by operation of law), aggravated assault (merged at sentencing), and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime; a jury convicted on all counts.
Brewer moved for a mistrial after a police officer testified the search for Brewer involved checking "booking information," but the trial court denied the motion and offered a curative instruction which Brewer’s counsel declined.
Brewer sought to testify that Strickland had arranged a prior murder years earlier; the trial court sustained the State’s objection and excluded that testimony. Brewer later challenged both the refusal of a mistrial and his counsel’s decision declining the curative instruction as ineffective assistance.
The trial court sentenced Brewer to life without parole for malice murder and five consecutive years for the firearm conviction; Brewer’s motion for new trial was denied and he appealed.

Issue	Brewer's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether denial of mistrial for witness mentioning "booking information" was error	The mention introduced impermissible character/criminal-record evidence and warranted mistrial	The comment was inadvertent, curable by instruction, and Brewer waived complaint by refusing instruction	Denial not reversible; Brewer waived complaint by declining curative instruction and court did not abuse discretion
Whether counsel was ineffective for declining curative instruction	Trial counsel’s refusal was deficient and prejudiced Brewer	Counsel made a reasonable strategy choice to avoid highlighting the remark; no prejudice given overwhelming evidence	No ineffective assistance — counsel’s decision was within reasonable trial strategy and not prejudicial
Whether exclusion of evidence of alleged prior violent act by victim was reversible error	Excluding testimony about victim’s alleged prior arranged murder harmed Brewer’s self-defense claim	The excluded evidence lacked specificity and was cumulative; overwhelming eyewitness evidence supported conviction	Any error was harmless given strong eyewitness evidence; no reversal required
Whether evidence sufficed to support convictions	Brewer implied self-defense; disputed facts	Witnesses saw unarmed victim and Brewer shoot him; evidence supported convictions	Evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia to sustain convictions

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes sufficiency-of-evidence standard under due process)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two-prong ineffective assistance of counsel test)
Rucker v. State, 293 Ga. 116 (trial-court denial of mistrial for admission of bad-character evidence reviewed for abuse of discretion)
Bunnell v. State, 292 Ga. 253 (curative instructions are adequate remedy for inadvertent references to prior convictions)
Pickren v. State, 272 Ga. 421 (defendant who declines curative instruction waives right to complain on appeal)
McNair v. State, 296 Ga. 181 (trial strategy normally not grounds for ineffective assistance unless patently unreasonable)
Kitchens v. State, 289 Ga. 242 (trial counsel’s tactical decisions fall within wide latitude of reasonable professional conduct)
Smith v. State, 299 Ga. 424 (harmless-error analysis under Georgia Evidence Code)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (effect of vacating felony murder when malice murder conviction is entered)