Robinson v. State, 299 Ga. 648

On December 1, 2007, Bernard Robinson and others chased and assaulted John Stephen Mitchell in a known drug area; Mitchell was pistol‑whipped, stabbed by Ralph Woods, and shot in the back by Robinson, causing Mitchell’s death.
Robinson retrieved a gun from a third party’s home before the attack; afterwards he admitted to shooting Mitchell and said he "had to teach him a lesson."
Robinson and Woods were tried jointly; Robinson was convicted of malice murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and sentenced to life plus five years.
Robinson moved for an out‑of‑time appeal; the trial court granted it and Robinson appealed his convictions to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
On appeal Robinson raised three main claims: (1) insufficiency of the evidence, (2) ineffective assistance of trial counsel based on delayed appointment, and (3) trial court error in failing to remove a juror who reported her husband’s grand‑jury service on the indictment.

Issue	Robinson's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence for malice murder and firearm possession	Evidence insufficient; killing was provoked and not deliberate	Evidence showed planning, return for a gun, violent group assault, admission and statement showing intent; supports malice murder and firearm possession	Affirmed: evidence sufficient; interval allowed reason/revenge finding (malice)
Ineffective assistance of counsel (delay in appointment)	Delay in appointment prejudiced defense by preventing counsel from locating transient witnesses	Delay speculative; no testimony from uncalled witnesses or proffer showing prejudice	Denied: no prejudice shown under Strickland; claim fails on prejudice prong
Juror removal for cause (Juror Schlich)	Juror should have been removed after seeing her husband listed on the indictment as a grand juror	Juror stated she could be impartial; trial court questioned her and counsel accepted the response	Not preserved (acquiescence) and, on the merits, no abuse of discretion; trial court acted within authority
Preservation of appellate objections	Trial counsel voiced satisfaction with court’s curative procedure	State notes counsel’s assent waived appellate review	Held waived: Robinson acquiesced and cannot complain on appeal

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (evidence reviewed in light most favorable to the verdict standard)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (standard for ineffective assistance: deficient performance and prejudice)
Barge v. State, 294 Ga. 567 (failure to proffer uncalled witness defeats Strickland prejudice showing)
Wright v. State, 291 Ga. 869 (reviewing court accepts trial court’s factual findings but applies law independently)
Fuller v. State, 277 Ga. 505 (Strickland prong analysis guidance)
Robinson v. State, 277 Ga. 75 (precedent on accepting trial court findings and credibility determinations)
Gardiner v. State, 264 Ga. 329 (acquiescence in curative procedure waives juror‑related appellate claims)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (procedural note regarding merger and vacatur of certain convictions)