Harris v. State, S21A0953

On July 1, 2008, after a dispute over an illegally run cable line at a Fulton County duplex, shots were fired at a porch; Marcus Simpson was killed and Kingston Ridley and Kenneth Williams were wounded.
Antonio Harris (Appellant), his cousin Geno West, and Rontryuas Harris were indicted in 2010 for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assaults, and firearm-possession offenses; they were tried jointly in September 2011.
The jury acquitted Harris of malice murder but convicted him of felony murder, multiple counts of aggravated assault, and firearm-possession offenses; he received life plus consecutive terms totaling 50 years for the assault convictions.
Key evidence: testimony from Ridley and Williams that Harris and West shot at the group; recovered 9mm and .380 shell casings at the scene; Harris testified he hid, did not know who fired, and later gave a false name at arrest.
Harris moved for directed verdict at trial and later raised an ineffective-assistance claim (counsel failed to investigate ballistics); the trial court denied a new trial in 2020, and the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions on October 5, 2021.

Issue	Harris' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence / denial of directed verdict	Evidence was legally insufficient to convict; directed verdict should have been granted	Victim testimony and forensic evidence support conviction; party liability applies so proof that Harris personally fired fatal shot not required	Denied — evidence sufficient; jury could find Harris a party to the crime; personal firing need not be proved
Ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to investigate ballistics)	Trial counsel was deficient for not investigating whether the fatal shots came from Harris's gun	Even if investigation were deficient, Harris failed to proffer what it would have shown or to show prejudice; convictions can rest on party liability	Denied — no prejudice shown and no proffer of helpful investigative results; claim fails

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes the constitutional standard for sufficiency of the evidence)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (sets the two-prong standard for ineffective-assistance claims)
Garrett v. State, 288 Ga. 269 (party liability when co-actor fires fatal shot)
Moore v. State, 311 Ga. 506 (no requirement that the State prove which defendant fired the fatal shot)
Long v. State, 309 Ga. 721 (to show prejudice from a failure-to-investigate claim, defendant must proffer what additional investigation would have uncovered)
Charleston v. State, 292 Ga. 678 (participation in a crime may be inferred from association before, during, and after the crime)
Smith v. State, 304 Ga. 752 (review standard for directed verdict/sufficiency issues)