Griffin v. Terry, 291 Ga. 326

Griffin was convicted of murder and sentenced to life plus 65 years; convictions affirmed on direct appeal except one lesser count vacated.
In 2008 Griffin filed a habeas petition alleging violation of the right to be present at critical trial stages and ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for not raising the issue on appeal.
During trial, a juror spoke with the judge about a voir dire clarification in Griffin’s absence; the colloquy occurred with prosecutors and defense counsel present.
The juror disclosed family involvement with homicide decades earlier but stated it would not affect impartiality; no objection to Griffin’s absence was raised at trial or on direct appeal.
The habeas court denied relief after an evidentiary hearing; Griffin now challenges the denial on ineffective assistance grounds and the procedural default of the right-to-be-present claim.
The court ultimately affirms the denial, applying a prejudice standard tied to whether appellate counsel’s failure to raise the issue caused an actual, not presumed, prejudice.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Right to be present at juror colloquy was violated.	Griffin’s absence violated constitutional right.	Griffin procedurally defaulted the claim; no cause or prejudice shown.	Procedural default; no cause or prejudice shown.
Appellate counsel ineffective for not raising the right-to-be-present issue.	Failure to raise the issue constituted deficient performance.	No prejudice shown; absence of evidence that trial outcome would change.	No actual prejudice established; ineffective-assistance claim fails.

Wilson v. State, 212 Ga. 73 (1955) (right to be present at trial stages recognized)
Ward v. State, 288 Ga. 641 (2011) (prejudice presumed for certain violations; due process)
Sammons v. State, 279 Ga. 386 (2005) (presumed prejudice for certain right-to-present defects)
Brooks v. State, 271 Ga. 456 (1999) (reversal for absence at in-chambers conferences during juror strikes)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Walker v. Hagins, 290 Ga. 512 (2012) (presumption of reasonable professional conduct in appellate performance)
Battles v. Chapman, 269 Ga. 702 (1998) (deficient performance standard for appellate counsel)
Chatman v. Mandil, 280 Ga. 253 (2006) (application of Strickland to appellate claims)
Upton v. Jones, 280 Ga. 895 (2006) (presumption of prejudice limits where structural error raised on ineffectiveness)
Bridges v. State, 286 Ga. 535 (2010) (rejecting ineffectiveness based on trial failure to raise right-to-be-present where no actual prejudice shown)
Peterson v. State, 284 Ga. 275 (2008) (same principle regarding appellate ineffectiveness and prejudice)
Nelson v. Hall, 275 Ga. 792 (2002) (prejudice inquiry in appellate context focuses on outcome of appeal)
Greer v. Thompson, 281 Ga. 419 (2006) (actual prejudice required to prevail on ineffective assistance)
Turpin v. Todd, 268 Ga. 820 (1997) (illustrative of cause-and-prejudice approach to procedural default)