Funck v. State
296 Ga. 371
| Ga. | 2015Background
- On August 18, 2006, Marcus Funck and Lisa Morse arranged to obtain crack cocaine by deceiving a supplier (Charles Johnson) and planned to drive off without paying; Johnson returned to the van with drugs, hung on, and was forcibly dislodged and later found dead from blunt force trauma after being run over.
- Funck and Morse admitted taking the drugs and discussed throwing Johnson off the van; Morse reported the events to the van owner and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and agreed to testify.
- A Richmond County grand jury indicted Funck (and Morse) for felony murder while committing criminal attempt to possess cocaine; Funck was tried alone, convicted by a jury in November 2007, and sentenced to life.
- Funck moved for a new trial (amended), raising claims including ineffective assistance for failure to timely demur, improper limitation on cross-examining Morse about plea benefits, and that he was required to wear jail clothing at trial. The motion was denied and Funck appealed.
- The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed Strickland prejudice/performance claims, the sufficiency of the evidence, the trial court’s discretion over cross-examination, and the voluntary wearing of jail clothes as trial strategy.
Issues
| Issue | Funck's Argument | State's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ineffective assistance for failure to file timely demurrer to indictment (underlying felony inherently dangerous) | Demurrer should have been filed pretrial because attempt to possess cocaine is not inherently dangerous per se and cannot support felony murder | Attempt to possess cocaine can serve as underlying felony; circumstances here (scheme to rob supplier) made it inherently dangerous; pretrial demurrer would have failed | Denied — counsel not ineffective; a timely demurrer would have been meritless so its omission is not prejudicial under Strickland |
| Sufficiency of evidence for felony murder conviction | (Implicit) Evidence insufficient to prove felony murder beyond reasonable doubt | Evidence (statements, conduct, forensic drag marks, death by blunt force trauma) supports that the attempted robbery/possession scheme proximately caused death | Affirmed — evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia |
| Limitation on cross-examination of Morse about plea benefits | Trial court improperly limited cross-examining Morse about any deal or anticipated sentence modification | Court allowed probing into Morse’s motivation/benefit; limitations were reasonable and not abused; Morse admitted discussions about seeking sentence reconsideration | Denied — no abuse of discretion; Funck was able to question Morse about benefits and suffered no harm |
| Requirement to wear jail clothing at trial / ineffective assistance for advising same | Wearing jail jumpsuit prejudiced jury; no disciplinary reason justified it; counsel ineffective for advising it | Funck voluntarily chose strategy to wear jail clothing with counsel’s advice; defendant can waive right to civilian clothes; no Strickland prejudice given strong evidence | Denied — Funck consented to strategy; no objection at trial; no reasonable probability of different outcome |
Key Cases Cited
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishing ineffective-assistance performance and prejudice standard)
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
- Chance v. State, 291 Ga. 241 (felony murder: assessing whether underlying felony is inherently dangerous by considering circumstances)
- Davis v. State, 290 Ga. 757 (proximate-cause analysis connecting felony to death)
- Wyatt v. State, 295 Ga. 257 (pretrial demurrer applicability to felony-murder charging)
- Hampton v. State, 295 Ga. 665 (meritless motion cannot support ineffective-assistance claim)
- Lawton v. State, 281 Ga. 459 (trial court’s broad discretion over scope of cross-examination)
- Junior v. State, 282 Ga. 689 (harmlessness standard for alleged limits on cross-examination)
- Townes v. State, 298 Ga. App. 185 (defendant may choose trial strategy, including wearing jail clothes)
- Choi v. State, 269 Ga. 376 (defendant may waive right to wear civilian clothing at trial)
- McClarin v. State, 289 Ga. 180 (absence of contemporaneous objection precludes relief on clothing issue)
- Johnson v. State, 243 Ga. App. 891 (no Strickland prejudice where evidence is strong)