McCullough v. State, 304 Ga. 290

Appellant Brawny McCullough was indicted for two counts each of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession for the Feb. 7, 2012 murders of his father (Gene) and great-aunt (Peggy Molden); jury sentenced him to life without parole (death penalty sought but not imposed).
Evidence: multiple prior solicitations by Appellant to have Gene killed (dating to 2008); Appellant stood to gain $150,000 life-insurance proceeds as primary beneficiary; witnesses and cell records placed Appellant with co-defendant Jonathan Henderson in the hours before the killings; .38-caliber shell/projectiles at the scene matched fragments from a prior 2010 shooting of Gene.
Appellant gave a recorded statement admitting planning the murder and providing the revolver but claimed Henderson pulled the trigger; Henderson testified under immunity and implicated Appellant; other witnesses corroborated prior solicitations and an earlier shooting involving Appellant.
Appellant sought an additional continuance because his original lead counsel (Brad Gardner) had a scheduling conflict; the trial court denied the continuance and trial proceeded with three other experienced capital defenders (Teri Thompson, Gerald Word, Burton Baker).
Trial court merged some counts at sentencing but failed to merge aggravated assault of Gene into the malice-murder count; the Court of Appeals (Supreme Court of Georgia) vacated that aggravated-assault conviction and sentence as erroneous merger.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence to support convictions	Evidence was circumstantial and lacked physical linkage (e.g., fingerprints/DNA); Henderson was biased by a deal	State argued the totality (solicitations, motive, phone records, admissions, ballistics, witness testimony) supports conviction	Convictions upheld: evidence sufficient when viewed in light most favorable to verdict (Jackson standard)
Sixth Amendment / denial of continuance to await counsel Gardner	McCullough argued denial deprived him of his chosen lead counsel and familiarity with case — violating his right to counsel of choice	State/trial court: defendant had competent, prepared counsel team; continuance would unduly delay trial; substantial countervailing interests	No violation: trial court did not abuse discretion; defendant was represented by experienced, prepared capital defenders and delay concerns justified denial
Sentencing merger error	Appellant argued aggravated assault of Gene merged into malice murder and should be vacated	State had merged Molden’s assault but not Gene’s; court had sentenced an extra consecutive 20-year term	Court vacated the aggravated-assault conviction and sentence for Gene as improperly unmerged (merger required)

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes standard for sufficiency of the evidence review) (1979)
Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153 (Sixth Amendment focuses on effective advocacy, not absolute right to counsel of choice) (1988)
Caplin & Drysdale v. United States, 491 U.S. 617 (indigent defendants are entitled to adequate appointed counsel, not preferred counsel) (1989)
Gonzalez-Lopez v. United States, 548 U.S. 140 (trial courts have latitude balancing counsel choice against court calendar) (2006)
Merritt v. State, 292 Ga. 327 (jury resolves witness credibility; adverse resolution does not make evidence insufficient) (2013)
Oliphant v. State, 295 Ga. 597 (merger principles: aggravated assault predicated on same killing must merge into murder) (2014)
Davis v. State, 261 Ga. 221 (appointment of counsel of choice for indigent governed by trial court discretion; familiarity with case is weighty) (1991)
Grant v. State, 278 Ga. 817 (denial to preserve defendant's longtime counsel reversed where court replaced established team without comparable reasons) (2005)