Brown v. State, 302 Ga. 813

Patricia Ann Brown was indicted for malice murder, felony murder (predicated on robbery), and robbery for the beating death of Eugene Clark; trial took place July 2008.
Brown was acquitted of malice murder but convicted of felony murder and robbery; sentenced to life for felony murder and 20 years probation for robbery (concurrent).
Brown moved for a new trial asserting ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to seek a continuance and additional mental competency evaluation when counsel perceived a change in her mental state at trial.
A pretrial competency evaluation (Feb 2008) found Brown competent to stand trial. Trial counsel testified he observed no pretrial impairment but believed Brown s condition changed on the first day of trial and that he should have sought another evaluation.
The trial court s on-the-record colloquy with Brown during the post-trial hearing demonstrated she could recall dates/events and understand proceedings; no additional medical records or expert evidence of incompetence were presented.
Appellate court found counsel s decision not objectively unreasonable given the prior competency report and lack of corroborating evidence, and further held Brown failed to prove prejudice. The court nonetheless vacated the robbery conviction because it merged into the felony-murder conviction.

Issue	Brown's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for not requesting another competency exam/continuance	Counsel should have sought further evaluation when Brown s mental state changed at trial	Prior expert found Brown competent months earlier; counsel observed no pretrial impairment; additional exam not obviously necessary	Counsel s performance not objectively unreasonable; no Strickland relief granted
Whether Brown proved prejudice from counsel s omission	A new evaluation likely would have shown incompetence and altered outcome	No medical records, expert testimony, or evidence to show an evaluation would have changed the result	Brown failed to prove reasonable probability of a different outcome (no prejudice)
Whether the February 2008 competency evaluation controlled the need for further inquiry	Brown contends change at trial made earlier evaluation outdated	State contends earlier evaluation and counsel s pretrial observations justified not seeking another exam	Earlier evaluation and surrounding circumstances made counsel s choice reasonable under Strickland/Harrington line
Whether separate conviction/sentence for robbery should stand when robbery was predicate for felony murder	Brown argues multiple convictions are duplicative given felony-murder conviction	State imposed both felony murder and predicate felony convictions/sentences	Robbery merged into felony murder; robbery conviction/sentence vacated

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two-prong test for ineffective assistance)
Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86 (objective-reasonableness inquiry for counsel s performance)
Terry v. State, 284 Ga. 119 (Georgia summary of ineffective-assistance standards)
Romer v. State, 293 Ga. 339 (prevailing professional norms inquiry)
Whitus v. State, 287 Ga. 801 (reasonableness of foregoing further mental-health investigation when expert found fitness)
Jennings v. State, 282 Ga. 679 (defendant bears burden to show prejudice from counsel s omissions)
Haygood v. State, 289 Ga. App. 187 (claim of ineffectiveness for failing to request psychiatric evaluation requires showing evaluation likely would affect outcome)
Hambrick v. Brannen, 289 Ga. 682 (Strickland requires more than speculation to show prejudice)
Bergeson v. State, 272 Ga. 382 (defendant failed to show prejudice from not obtaining additional psychiatric exam)
Martin v. Barrett, 279 Ga. 593 (contrasting case where expert evidence supported likelihood defendant was incompetent and would affect outcome)
Culpepper v. State, 289 Ga. 736 (predicate felony merges into felony-murder conviction)
Hawkins v. State, 267 Ga. 124 (conviction and sentence for predicate felony must be vacated when it merges into felony murder)