Kendrick v. State, 290 Ga. 873

May 21, 2001 Kendrick, Copeland and others alleged fight; Kendrick struck Copeland with a gin bottle and poured beer on him; officers later encountered a shooting after Kendrick left to buy more beer.
Two eyewitnesses saw Kendrick shoot Copeland after Kendrick arrived with Willoughby; Copeland unarmed, hands tested negative for guns.
Kendrick reloaded and shot Copeland in the back, fled, Copeland died at scene; prior similar transaction evidence showed Kendrick in a prior fight with a gun.
Kendrick was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during a felony after trial; trial included standard juror instruction and evidence of prior incident.
On appeal, Kendrick challenged jury instructions, potential involuntary/voluntary manslaughter lesser included offenses, and ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
The Court affirmed the convictions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter	Kendrick argues involuntary manslaughter should be charged as lesser included offense.	State contends felony murder includes aggravated assault; running away while firing does not amount to reckless conduct.	No error; flight with gun constitutes aggravated assault; felony murder proves underlying offense.
Completeness of voluntary manslaughter charge	Kendrick argues two omissions left the jury uninformed that voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense.	Court's charge, taken as a whole, allowed consideration of voluntary manslaughter.	Charge adequate; not required to follow exact formula; sufficient guidance to consider voluntary manslaughter.
Ineffective assistance—pre-deliberation closing remarks (silence comment)	Prosecutor improperly commented on Kendrick’s silence.	Kendrick had already testified fleeing after shooting; comments were permissible about evidence.	Not ineffective; comments within permissible scope given prior testimony.
Ineffective assistance—Willoughby plea comment	Prosecutor improperly attacked Willoughby’s credibility by referencing his plea.	Argument about Willoughby’s plea and testimony was permissible to attack credibility.	Not ineffective; proper argument under the circumstances.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. Supreme Court 1979) (sufficiency of evidence standard for conviction)
Hall v. State, 264 Ga. 85 (Ga. 1994) (witness credibility determinations for jury)
Hayes v. State, 279 Ga. 642 (Ga. 2005) (instructional adequacy of voluntary manslaughter charge)
Miner v. State, 268 Ga. 67 (Ga. 1997) (modest requirements for manslaughter instructions)
Boyd v. State, 286 Ga. 166 (Ga. 2009) (felony murder includes underlying aggravated assault elements)
Lytle v. State, 290 Ga. 177 (Ga. 2011) (standard for evaluating ineffective assistance claims)