Lewis v. State, 294 Ga. 526

Willie Henry Lewis was convicted in 2003 of two counts of malice murder and related offenses stemming from a multi-day crime spree in October 2001 involving a stolen Jeep Cherokee and shootings committed with a chrome .357 revolver.
Physical and forensic evidence tied Lewis to multiple scenes: his fingerprints were in the stolen Jeep and ballistics linked the .357 revolver recovered at his home to bullets from several crime scenes; witness descriptions and clothing evidence also implicated him.
Lewis’s direct appeal was initially dismissed as untimely; after filing pro se and then counsel-led motions he obtained an out-of-time appeal; this Court affirmed convictions but remanded for a hearing on ineffective assistance of first appellate counsel.
At the remand hearing Lewis claimed first appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to present testimony (from Lewis and his grandmother) that Lewis would have testified at trial he was home sick (an alibi) and that trial counsel was ineffective for not calling him.
First appellate counsel testified he had never been told about the alleged sickness/alibi before the remand hearing. The trial court found no ineffective assistance of first appellate counsel; Lewis appealed that finding to this Court.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether first appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to present testimony at the motion-for-new-trial remand hearing that would show trial counsel was ineffective	Lewis: The content of his would-be testimony (that he was home sick) would show trial counsel was ineffective for not calling him, so appellate counsel’s failure to present it was deficient and prejudicial	State: Appellate counsel could not present testimony he was never informed of; and even if presented, the alibi would not overcome overwhelming evidence tying Lewis to the crimes nor show trial counsel’s strategy was unreasonable	Court affirmed: appellate counsel’s performance not deficient (he wasn’t informed) and no prejudice shown; judgment affirmed

Lewis v. State, 291 Ga. 273 (relevant prior appeal and remand decision)
Seabolt v. Hall, 292 Ga. 311 (standard for evaluating appellate counsel performance and prejudice)
McIlwain v. State, 287 Ga. 115 (attorney cannot be ineffective for failing to call an alibi witness unknown to the attorney)
Battles v. Chapman, 269 Ga. 702 (standard for reasonableness of appellate counsel decisions)
Chatman v. Mancill, 280 Ga. 253 (same standard for appellate strategy decisions)
Walker v. Hagins, 290 Ga. 512 (prejudice prong: reasonable probability required)
Barker v. Barrow, 290 Ga. 711 (trial counsel’s strategic choices can be reasonable and defeat ineffective-assistance claims)