Henry v. State, 316 Ga. App. 132

Henry was convicted by a jury on two counts aggravated child molestation, two counts aggravated sodomy, and one count child molestation.
The trial court granted an out-of-time appeal, and Henry timely appealed alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
Victim disclosed molestation to Lamb, the victim’s school bus driver, and to the mother; the mother questioned the child and police were notified.
A laptop found in Henry’s truck contained pornography; images/links were introduced as separate exhibits at trial.
Henry’s defense claimed Lamb and the mother coached and fabricated the charges after Henry ended the relationship and cut off financial support.
The court affirmed the judgment, addressing multiple claims of ineffective assistance and trial strategy related to evidentiary rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admission of laptop evidence	Henry's counsel should have objected to the laptop's admission.	Counsel did object pre-trial; post-admission, objects were unnecessary; admissibility upheld.	No merit; admissibility and objection history support denial.
Hearsay objection to officer testimony about statements	Counsel should have objected to hearsay of statements by Lamb and mother.	Cumulative nature; strategy to show fabrication; objections not required.	Without merit; strategy-based non-error.
Testimony of the mother and Lamb recounting allegations	Should have objected to their recounting as hearsay.	Admissible as part of defense strategy to show fabrication.	No reversible error; trial strategy supported admissibility.
Failure to object to pornographic images from laptop	Objection should have been renewed to exclude images.	Objections were raised via motions; renewed objection occurred when images were singly exhibited.	Without merit; evidence properly managed under strategy and rulings.
Confrontation and reliability of child's taped statement	Object to taped statement on confrontation clause grounds; reliability concerns.	Counsel chose to use videotape to highlight inconsistencies; no mandatory confrontation violation.	No error; strategic choice within trial discretion.

Herring v. State, 288 Ga. App. 169 (Ga. App. 2007) (objections not required where motion to suppress denied)
Kilgore v. State, 247 Ga. 70 (Ga. 1981) (pre-trial rulings govern evidentiary objections)
Gray v. State, 291 Ga. App. 573 (Ga. App. 2008) (trial strategy not easily challenged as ineffective assistance)
Woods v. State, 304 Ga. App. 403 (Ga. App. 2010) (cumulative evidence not grounds for ineffective assistance)
Walker v. State, 226 Ga. App. 292 (Ga. App. 1970) (trial strategy judgments are typically within discretion)
Robinson v. State, 308 Ga. App. 45 (Ga. App. 2011) (confrontation clause/fresh issue weighed against strategy)