Greenwood v. State, 309 Ga. App. 893

Greenwood was convicted at a jury trial of motor vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, entering an automobile with intent to commit theft, and criminal damage to property in the second degree (Counts 1–4, felonies).
He also was convicted of four misdemeanors: obstruction of an officer, reckless driving, improper lane change/failure to use turn signal, and fleeing or eluding a police officer (Counts 5–8).
Sentences imposed under OCGA § 17-10-7(c) were consecutive, including ten years to serve on Counts 1 and 2, five years to serve on Counts 3 and 4, and twelve months on each misdemeanor, with all terms consecutive to prior counts.
The offenses occurred in the Lea Glen neighborhood of Houston County around 2:15 a.m. on November 6, 2005, when Greenwood was observed entering a stolen Yukon, fleeing from a deputy, and crashing the vehicle into a fence before fleeing on foot.
Police later located and identified Greenwood in connection with additional stolen-property discoveries, including a Yukon abandoned in Lea Glen and another stolen Yukon from Butts County.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance of counsel claim	Greenwood argues counsel failed to object to testimonial evidence placing his character in issue.	Counsel's actions were strategic and within professional norms; decisions not to object were trial tactics.	No merit; counsel's performance not deficient under Strickland.
Sua sponte mistrial	Trial court should have declared a mistrial due to questions about visits to Greenwood in jail.	Mistrial motion was within trial court discretion and denied given overwhelming evidence.	No abuse of discretion; error harmless.
Admissibility of special task force evidence	Evidence about a police task force and related car thefts should have been excluded as prejudicial.	Evidence linked to res gestae and contextualized defendant’s conduct; properly admitted.	Admissible as part of res gestae.
Eyewitness identification certainty	Witness’s asserted certainty about Greenwood’s identity should have been limited.	Certainty evidence is permissible where identification is an issue and may be explored.	Proper for identification issue; allowed.

Al-Amin v. State, 278 Ga. 74 (Ga. 2004) (standard ineffective-assistance appraisal; Strickland test applied)
Jackson v. State, 282 Ga. 494 (Ga. 2007) (clarifies trial-court deference in ineffective-assistance review)
Roebuck v. State, 277 Ga. 200 (Ga. 2003) (adoption of trial-strategy and prejudice notions in counsel performance)
Smith v. State, 270 Ga. 68 (Ga. 1998) (limiting instruction on similar-transaction testimony; strategy considerations)
Evans v. State, 261 Ga. App. 22 (Ga. App. 2003) (identification evidence and witness credibility under cross-examination)