Davis v. State, 312 Ga. App. 328

Victim at home with two daughters; someone tries doorknob and then enters with multiple men, one masked with a gun.
Victim fires at the gunman during the struggle; weapons are exchanged and the gunman is wounded; accomplices flee.
DNA from the ski mask used in the struggle matches Davis; victim and daughters identify Davis as the gunman.
Davis tells detective he was shot during a robbery attempt; cellmate later testifies Davis claimed to have been involved in a separate incident.
Trial court convict Davis of burglary, aggravated assault, attempted armed robbery, and firearm possession; appeal challenges merger, impeachment ruling, and effectiveness of counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Merger of offenses	Davis: aggravated assault not included in armed robbery.	State: separate completed offenses; no merger.	Trial court erred by not merging the offenses.
Impeachment scope for cellmate	Cellmate pending probation revocation should be admitted to show bias.	No further impeachment beyond 'in jail' allowed.	Court limited impeachment; error not grounds to reverse alone.
Ineffective assistance of counsel	Counsel should have widened impeachment; bias evidence admissible.	Outcome would not differ; overwhelming evidence.	No reasonable probability of different outcome; no reversible error.

Reed v. State, 293 Ga.App. 479 (Ga.App. 2008) (test for one offense includes same evidence rule)
Young v. State, 272 Ga.App. 304 (Ga.App. 2005) (merger analysis when acts/transactions overlap)
Melson v. State, 263 Ga.App. 647 (Ga.App. 2003) (impeachment via bias evidence from ongoing charges)
Davis v. State, 269 Ga. 276 (Ga. 1998) (first offender records not admissible for general impeachment)
Haynes v. State, 199 Ga.App. 288 (Ga.App. 1991) (impeachment limitations; procedural default rule)
Butler v. State, 285 Ga. 518 (Ga. 2009) (procedural default rules on preserving objections)