Rankin v. State, 309 Ga. App. 817

Rankin was convicted after a jury trial of armed robbery of a store owner.
The robbery occurred around 10:50 p.m. on October 11, 2006; a masked man with a small silver gun demanded money and fled on foot.
The store owner testified the robber wore a black glove and army clothing; cash taken included various denominations.
About an hour later, Rankin was found on the same road two miles from the store, wearing camouflage shorts and in possession of a silver pistol, rounds, gloves, and $519 in cash.
The cash denominations and clothing/gun matched aspects described by the witness; the robbery occurred at night with little foot traffic.
The defense challenged the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence and argued ineffective assistance of counsel.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of circumstantial evidence	Rankin asserts circumstantial proof failed to exclude other hypotheses.	Rankin contends the evidence does not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.	Evidence sufficient; reasonable jury could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ineffective assistance for failing to call witnesses	Rankin claims trial counsel failed to call sister, sister's boyfriend, and mother to testify.	Rankin argues these witnesses would have undermined the State's case or supported alibi/character.	No deficient performance; strategic decisions not to call witnesses were within counsel's broad professional discretion.
Custodial statement and preservation	Counsel allegedly failed to introduce a police custodial statement.	Statement suppression and preservation issues were not properly raised below.	Not preserved for appellate review; issue waived.
Counsel cooperation	Rankin alleges trial counsel was uncooperative.	Characterizes as lack of cooperation related to witness calls and strategy.	No merit; record shows counsel testified and decisions were strategic.

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for analyzing sufficiency of evidence)
Sims v. State, 278 Ga. 587 (2004) (circumstantial evidence framework in Georgia)
Adams v. State, 245 Ga. App. 607 (2000) (circumstantial evidence and similarity of circumstances)
Reid v. State, 286 Ga. 484 (2010) (defense strategy and trial counsel decisions on witnesses)
Upton v. Parks, 284 Ga. 254 (2008) (reasonable strategic decisions regarding witness testimony)
Kay v. State, 306 Ga. App. 666 (2010) (evaluation of trial counsel's decisions to call or not call witnesses)
Allen v. State, 286 Ga. 392 (2010) (waiver and preservation of ineffective assistance claims)