Clark v. State, 300 Ga. 899

On Feb. 5, 2008 Marlon Brown was shot multiple times after an altercation at Xaviera Wood’s apartment; blood trail and shell casings linked the scene to Brown’s body.
Clarence Clark took possession of Brown’s handgun after Wood found it, confronted Brown in a breezeway, then chased and fired at Brown; Brown was shot in the chest, back, head, and arm.
Clark initially denied involvement, then voluntarily came to the police station two months later, received Miranda warnings, executed a written waiver, and gave a videotaped statement admitting he chased and shot Brown.
A Fulton County jury convicted Clark (Oct. 2014) of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; he received life plus a consecutive five-year sentence.
Clark moved for a new trial arguing ineffective assistance of trial counsel for (1) not objecting to witnesses/state using the term "murder" at trial, and (2) not objecting to admission of his videotaped statement; the motion was denied and Clark appealed.
The Georgia Supreme Court reviewed Strickland standard and affirmed, finding counsel’s performance was not deficient and Clark showed no prejudice from either alleged omission.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Failure to object to witnesses/state using the term "murder" at trial	Clark: counsel should have sought to exclude the term because its use prejudiced the jury	State: jury was properly instructed on elements, burden, and presumption of innocence; use of the word did not unfairly influence jury	Counsel not ineffective; use of "murder" was not harmful and jury instructions cured any concern
Failure to challenge admission of videotaped statement	Clark: statement involuntary because he was not told he was under arrest and "chased" wording harmed self‑defense claim	State: Clark came voluntarily, received Miranda warnings and waived rights; no coercion; counsel reasonably chose strategic use of statement	Counsel not ineffective; statement was voluntary and admitting it was a reasonable trial strategy; no prejudice shown

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (review for sufficiency of the evidence)
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda warnings and waiver principles)
Capps v. State, 300 Ga. 6 (Georgia summary of Strickland standard)
Hendrix v. State, 298 Ga. 60 (ineffective assistance framework)
Dawson v. State, 300 Ga. 332 (use of the term "murder" in testimony does not automatically deny fair trial)
Bradshaw v. State, 300 Ga. 1 (voluntariness and counsel strategy considerations)
Smith v. State, 300 Ga. 532 (deference to reasonable trial strategy)
Byrd v. State, 274 Ga. 58 (post-hoc disagreement with strategy not proof of ineffectiveness)
Harris v. State, 297 Ga. App. 589 (custody alone does not render later statement involuntary)
Nguyen v. State, 279 Ga. App. 129 (failure to move in limine about terminology not per se ineffective)