Fitzpatrick v. State, 317 Ga. App. 873

Fitzpatrick was implicated in a late-night burglary at a Metro PCS store; security guard chased him for about five minutes and detained him with a stroller containing stolen store items.
Police later found screwdrivers, twelve cell phones, wire cutters, and a flashlight on Fitzpatrick; holes were chiselled into the store’s back area and into the store itself, with Fitzpatrick’s clothing dusted with dust from the holes.
A prior incident at nearby Super Giant three days earlier involved a hole in the external wall and theft of meat; surveillance video from that morning shows Fitzpatrick appearing on the footage.
Fitzpatrick was convicted by a jury of two counts of burglary and one count of possession of tools for the commission of a crime; he moved for a new trial and appealed on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel, trial court bias, and insufficiency of the evidence.
The appellate court affirmed, finding no reversible error in the Strickland-based ineffective-assistance claims, no evident sentencing bias, and sufficient evidence to sustain each conviction.
The court treated some arguments as abandoned for lack of argument or improper preservation.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was trial counsel ineffective under Strickland?	Fitzpatrick argues multiple deficiencies by counsel.	State contends defense was within reasonable professional norms.	No reversible prejudice; performance deemed within reasonable effectiveness.
Did the trial judge bias or recuse himself?	Judge’s sentencing remark showed bias against Fitzpatrick for exercising jury trial rights.	No extrajudicial bias; no duty to recuse absent standards.	No disqualifying bias; sentence within statutorily permitted range.
Was the evidence sufficient to sustain burglary convictions?	Insufficient, especially regarding alibi/witnesses.	Evidence overwhelming; properly supported by physical and documentary proof.	Evidence sufficient to sustain burglary convictions and possession of tools.
Was the admission of the Super Giant video and related testimony properly challenged?	Counsel failed to object to admissibility of surveillance tape.	Issues not properly preserved; overwhelming proof still supports guilt.	Issue not reversible; admission without prejudice given other evidence.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (ineffective assistance standard; prejudice required for reversal)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (sufficiency of evidence standard for due process)
Mims v. State, 301 Ga. App. 436 (Ga. App. 2009) (considered witness contact and defense strategy impact on outcome)
Pilkington v. State, 298 Ga. App. 317 (Ga. App. 2009) (counsel's evidentiary objections and effect on trial)
Lambert v. State, 287 Ga. 774 (Ga. 2010) (efficiency of objections and impact where guilt is overwhelming)