Holloman v. State, 293 Ga. 151

Holloman was indicted on malice murder, three counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated battery, six counts of aggravated assault, and four counts of cruelty to children (Sept. 10, 2010).
Following a jury trial, Holloman was convicted on all counts on May 12, 2011; felony murder vacated by operation of law; remaining counts merged for sentencing.
A six-month-old child, Nathaniel, died after Holloman babysat him; autopsy showed severe injuries and the medical examiner testified death resulted from blunt force trauma and homicide.
Holloman challenged the trial court’s aggravated assault instruction as incomplete for omitting a simple assault definition; the issue was reviewed for plain error.
The State introduced text messages Holloman sent to Rodney; authentication was at issue but Holloman did not object to the testimony or admission, leading to waiver.
Holloman argued ineffective assistance for (a) failing to object to text messages and (b) failing to call an expert to rebut the medical examiner; the court found no prejudice and upheld strategy-based decisions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Incomplete aggravated assault instruction	Holloman contends missing simple assault definition taints verdict.	State argues no failure given existing general intent and homicide by abuse evidence.	No plain error; record supports instruction sufficiency.
Authentication of text messages	Messages not properly authenticated.	Waived due to lack of objection at trial.	Waived.
Ineffective assistance—text messages objection	Counsel failed to object to text messages affecting defense.	No prejudice; messages limited and other evidence showed impatience toward baby.	No ineffective assistance.
Ineffective assistance—expert rebuttal	Counsel should have called an expert to rebut the medical examiner.	Strategic choice not to pursue CPR defense after consulting a pediatrician.	No ineffective assistance; strategic decision reasonable.
Impeachment evidence at motion for new trial	State impeached expert with undisclosed evidence.	Grounds not preserved; no objection at hearing.	Waived.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (sufficiency of the evidence standard for a guilty verdict)
Cantera v. State, 289 Ga. 583 (Ga. 2011) (where intent questions may require simple assault instruction)
Sutton v. State, 245 Ga. 192 (Ga. 1980) (general intent and consequences of abuse require instruction context)
Chase v. State, 277 Ga. 636 (Ga. 2004) (describes when describing ‘violent’ nature of injury supports aggravated assault)
Terry v. State, 291 Ga. 508 (Ga. 2012) (plain error standard and its application)
Williams v. State, 255 Ga. 97 (Ga. 1985) (waiver for issues raised for first time on appeal)