Davis v. State, 311 Ga. 225

On Sept. 17, 2013, 15-year-old Zemartae Davis stabbed 18-year-old Dontravious Hoskins after a dispute over a sold PlayStation; Hoskins later died of a chest wound. Davis claimed self-defense.
Police recovered a bloody knife and blood trail; Hoskins’s DNA was on the knife. Several witnesses saw Hoskins leave the scene bleeding; only Davis testified he stabbed Hoskins.
Trey Jones, a potential witness who testified at the preliminary hearing, did not appear at trial; the prosecutor sought to admit Trey’s preliminary-hearing testimony under OCGA § 24-8-804(b)(1).
Defense counsel expressly agreed with the State’s Rule 804 analysis and requested admission of Trey’s entire prior testimony; counsel did not object when the transcript was read to the jury.
A jury convicted Davis of felony murder (based on aggravated assault) and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime; Davis was acquitted of malice murder. He appealed, arguing (1) erroneous admission of Trey’s prior testimony and (2) ineffective assistance for counsel’s failure to object.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Davis)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Admission of prior testimony under Rule 804(b)(1) (unavailable witness)	Trey was not shown unavailable at trial; court erred by reading preliminary-hearing testimony without requiring Trey to be called	Trey was unavailable; prior testimony admissible because defense had opportunity and motive to cross at the preliminary hearing	Affirmed — defense counsel affirmatively waived any objection by agreeing to admission; plain-error review fails
Ineffective assistance for failing to object to admission of prior testimony	Counsel’s failure to object was deficient and prejudicial	Counsel’s performance was reasonable; Trey’s testimony supported self-defense and was strategically valuable	Affirmed — no deficient performance; favorable testimony made non-objection reasonable under Strickland

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Denson v. State, 307 Ga. 545 (plain-error standard and elements explained)
State v. Kelly, 290 Ga. 29 (defining affirmative waiver as intentional relinquishment)
Gates v. State, 298 Ga. 324 (plain-error standard applied to evidentiary rulings)
Woodard v. State, 296 Ga. 803 (counsel’s affirmative request can constitute waiver)
Cheddersingh v. State, 290 Ga. 680 (contrast where counsel did not intentionally relinquish an objection)
Romer v. State, 293 Ga. 339 (standard for deficient performance review)
Marshall v. State, 297 Ga. 445 (strong presumption that counsel’s performance was adequate)
Clark v. State, 300 Ga. 899 (strategic decisions generally will not support ineffective-assistance claims)
Davenport v. State, 309 Ga. 385 (note on sufficiency-of-evidence consideration)