Morris v. State, 308 Ga. 520

Background

In August 2007 Morris and Desmond Davis entered a boarding-house room, robbed the occupants, and fatally shot Jameson Bush; evidence included multiple rifle shell casings, a recovered .38 bullet, eyewitnesss and co-conspirator statements, and testimony that Morris and Davis had firearms at their shared residence. Morris was convicted of malice murder, armed robbery, and related counts and sentenced to consecutive life terms plus five years.
Posttrial, Morris filed timely and amended motions for new trial; appellate counsel repeatedly sought the full five-volume transcript. Volumes 1–3 and 5 were produced, but Volume 4 (containing closing arguments, charge, verdict, and some sentencing) was significantly delayed and only certified in March 2018.
Trial events at issue: (1) the trial judge asked counsel not to question jurors about religion during voir dire; (2) the court gave a lengthy pattern instruction on co-conspirator statements with state-requested additions; (3) the court announced it would close and lock the courtroom doors while charging the jury.
Morris argued the transcript delay denied him a timely appeal (due process), that voir dire restrictions violated OCGA § 15-12-133, that the co-conspirator charge was confusing, that courtroom locking violated the public-trial right, and that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the closure.
The trial court denied the amended motion for new trial; on appeal the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, finding no prejudice from the transcript delay, no preserved error on voir dire, the co-conspirator charge correct and adapted to the evidence, waiver of the closure claim, and no ineffective-assistance prejudice.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Morris)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Transcript delay / timely appeal (due process)	Delay in producing Volume 4 frustrated his right to a timely appeal and certification by a reporter not present was improper; prejudice presumed from State's errors	Delay was significant but was the State’s fault; transcript was ultimately certified and presumed correct; Morris showed no specific prejudice	No violation — although delay was substantial and State-attributable, Morris failed to show prejudice from delay; claim fails under Chatman four-factor test
Voir dire restriction re: religion (OCGA § 15-12-133)	Judge’s directive to avoid religious questions impermissibly limited counsel’s right to individual examination of venire on religious connections	The judge only requested (not ordered) avoidance; no contemporaneous objection and no record of excluded questions	Waived / no relief — Morris failed to preserve the claim by not objecting or showing what questions would have been asked
Jury charge on co-conspirator statements	The court’s lengthy, modified pattern instruction was confusing and could mislead jurors	The instruction tracked the pattern charge and was tailored to evidence (in-court testimony by Handy could be used to establish conspiracy apart from out-of-court statements)	Affirmed — instruction was legally correct, adapted to the evidence, and there was no showing of juror confusion or prejudice
Courtroom closure during jury charge (public-trial right)	Locking and closing the doors violated Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment public-trial rights	Closure announced in advance; public was given opportunity to remain; no contemporaneous objection at trial	Waived — defendant did not object at trial, so the claim cannot be raised on direct appeal
Ineffective assistance for failing to object to courtroom closure	Counsel’s failure to object was professionally deficient and prejudiced Morris’s public-trial right	Even if deficiency, Morris cannot show prejudice: no one who wished to remain was excluded and the court announced/allowed continued presence	Denied — prejudice not shown; no reasonable probability of a different outcome or impact on the fairness of proceedings

Key Cases Cited

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (established sufficiency-of-evidence standard)
Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (speedy-trial balancing test adopted for appeal-delay analysis)
Chatman v. Mancill, 280 Ga. 253 (Georgia four-factor test for appellate-delay claims)
Veal v. State, 301 Ga. 161 (prejudice requirement fatal to appellate-delay claims lacking specific harm)
Reid v. State, 286 Ga. 484 (courtroom closure raised in ineffectiveness context; prejudice not presumed)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance standard)
Stuckey v. State, 301 Ga. 767 (recitation of Strickland standard in Georgia)
Lord v. State, 304 Ga. 532 (co-conspirator hearsay exception principles under former Evidence Code)