Cartwright v. State, 291 Ga. 498

Cartwright convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession; trial court denied new trial and he appeals on ineffective assistance grounds.
Evidence shows early morning April 3, 2006: Cartwright confronted Stafford about a drug debt and shot him in front of witnesses; Stafford died from a neck wound; a single .380 bullet and shell casing found in Stafford’s car; two witnesses saw Cartwright with a .380 pistol.
Trial involved three ineffective-assistance claims, analyzed under Strickland v. Washington standard (deficient performance and prejudice).
Georgia courts presume trial counsel’s conduct to be reasonable; to overcome, defendant must show deficient performance and a reasonable probability of a different outcome.
Evidence was legally sufficient to convict beyond a reasonable doubt of felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance from alleged juvenile-record impeachment advice	Cartwright claims counsel advised impeachment with juvenile record	Counsel denies advising such impeachment; recollection is unclear but he did not recall giving such advice	No deficient performance; credibility finding supported; no prejudice
Ineffective assistance from failure to impeach detective Tyner with Spicer's testimony	Counsel should have used Detective Spicer’s testimony to impeach Tyner	Defendant did not call Spicer or introduce transcript; cannot rely on hearsay	No deficient performance or prejudice; failure to call uncalled witness or provide substitute not shown to alter outcome
Ineffective assistance from failure to pursue juror polling on second verdict	Counsel should have moved to determine if second verdict was freely entered	Polling complied with minimal requirements; no coercion shown by juror’s initial reservations	No deficient performance; polling adequate; no prejudice

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (sufficiency standard for criminal convictions)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (establishes standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Robinson v. State, 277 Ga. 75 (2003) (strong presumption of reasonable professional conduct)
King v. State, 282 Ga. 505 (2007) ( credibility determinations favored trial court's findings)
Benefield v. State, 278 Ga. 464 (2004) (jury polling purpose and admissibility of responses)
Rouse v. State, 265 Ga. 32 (1995) (jury poll requirements and coercion considerations)
Manriquez v. State, 285 Ga. 880 (2010) (uncalled witness rule for ineffective assistance)