Brockington v. State
316 Ga. App. 90
Ga. Ct. App.2012Background
- Brockington was convicted of aggravated assault and aggravated battery and sentenced to 25 years total confinement followed by 15 years on probation; he challenges separate sentencing for the counts and claims ineffective assistance of counsel.
- The State’s evidence showed Brockington attacked the victim with a hammer, causing a life-threatening head injury after an earlier leg injury, with the assault and later head strike occurring in different locations.
- The jury found him guilty of both counts; the sentences were ordered to run consecutively.
- Brockington’s mother was present during the incident and later testified inconsistently, leading to a contempt finding for perjury at a voir dire outside the jury.
- The court reviewed merger law under OCGA § 16-1-7(a)(1) and concluded the offenses required proof of different facts and thus did not merge; it also found Brockington’s counsel’s trial decisions were within the range of reasonable professional conduct.
- The opinion discusses two ineffective-assistance arguments: (a) failure to object to a paramedic’s testimony about a domestic-situation inference, and (b) failure to object to a nurse’s testimony about the paramedic’s instruction to separate the victim and Brockington.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do the offenses merge for sentencing? | Brockington | State | No merger; separate sentences authorized. |
| Is trial counsel ineffective for not objecting to certain testimony? | Brockington | State | No ineffective assistance; decisions were reasonable and strategic. |
Key Cases Cited
- Robbins v. State, 293 Ga. App. 584 (Ga. App. 2008) (merger analysis; different facts = no merger)
- Drinkard v. Walker, 281 Ga. 211 (Ga. 2006) (offenses require different facts do not merge)
- Lowe v. State, 267 Ga. 410 (Ga. 1996) (separate judgments authorized when separate attacks with intervals)
- Coleman v. State, 286 Ga. 291 (Ga. 2009) (multiple blows may be separate offenses depending on circumstances)
- Mikell v. State, 286 Ga. 722 (Ga. 2010) (successive wounds may constitute a single offense depending on interval)
- Works v. State, 301 Ga. App. 108 (Ga. App. 2009) (ineffective assistance; burdens of proof; strategy matters)
- Sweet v. State, 278 Ga. 320 (Ga. 2004) (reasonable trial strategy; not automatically deficient performance)
- Goodall v. State, 277 Ga. App. 600 (Ga. App. 2006) (trial strategy considerations in objections)