Carruth v. State, 290 Ga. 342

Terrence Carruth was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and aggravated stalking related to Potter, under a probation condition prohibiting contact with Potter.
Carruth previously pled guilty to a 2007 Rockdale County attack, was sentenced, and was subject to a no-contact probation condition with Potter.
Potter and Carruth had a four-year relationship; after a breakup, Carruth repeatedly pursued Potter and engaged in threats and assaults.
On the night of the stabbing, Carruth ambushed Mosby in the driveway, Mosby was killed with 18 knife wounds, and Potter was present; Carruth’s knife was recovered.
Carruth challenged trial decisions including the rule of completeness, severance, admission of a first-offender plea for impeachment, and failure to give a mutual-combat jury instruction; the court affirmed the convictions.
The appellate court evaluated preservation, Strickland v. Washington standards for ineffective assistance, and plain-error review under Kelly v. State.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Rule of completeness preserved?	Carruth argues the witness should have testified to his full post-stabbing statement.	State contends preservation failed and completeness wasn't preserved for review.	Not preserved; no review on Rule 24-3-38.
Ineffective assistance—completeness theory	Counsel should have argued completeness to admit full statement.	Evidence credibility found insufficient to change outcome; Strickland prejudice not shown.	No relief under Strickland; prejudice not shown.
Severance of aggravated stalking	Severance required because stalking evidence would prejudice murder trial.	Joinder proper since acts form a single scheme; severance not required.	Abuse of discretion not shown; severance denied.
Mutual-combat jury instruction	Trial court should have given mutual-combat instruction.	No plain error; evidence did not establish mutual combat.	Omission not plain error under OCGA 17-8-58(b).

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (sufficiency review for reasonable doubt standard)
Westmoreland v. State, 287 Ga. 688 (Ga. 2010) (preservation and review standards on appeal)
Higuera-Hernandez v. State, 289 Ga. 553 (Ga. 2011) (preservation requirements; evidence admissibility principles)
Payne v. State, 289 Ga. 691 (Ga. 2011) (preservation of grounds for admissibility under OCGA 24-3-38)
Simmons v. State, 282 Ga. 183 (Ga. 2007) (joinder vs. severance and admissibility of related conduct)
Carreker v. State, 273 Ga. 371 (Ga. 2001) (mutual combat charge authorized where evidence of mutual intent)
Kelly v. State, 290 Ga. 29 (Ga. 2011) (four-prong plain-error standard for unpreserved objections)
Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129 (U.S. 2009) (plain-error review framework)
Davis v. State, 269 Ga. 276 (Ga. 1998) (impeachment of first-offender with inconsistent or contradicting facts)
Donaldson v. State, 249 Ga. 186 (Ga. 1982) (definition and limits of mutual combat)