Rosenbaum v. State, 320 Ga. 5

Jennifer Rosenbaum was convicted of felony murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and cruelty to children after the death of her two-year-old foster child, Laila Daniel, and abuse of Laila’s sibling M.P.
The crimes occurred in late 2015, with Laila’s death involving fatal blunt-force trauma; the official cause determined to be homicide, not a choking accident as Rosenbaum claimed.
Extensive evidence at trial indicated that injuries to both girls were inconsistent with accidental or resuscitative causes and inconsistent with Rosenbaum’s narrative.
Rosenbaum was represented jointly with her husband, Joseph, by the same attorney, and both sought to present a unified defense.
Rosenbaum appealed her conviction, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel for the failure to request a jury instruction on justification and for the alleged unwaivable conflict of interest due to joint representation.
The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed Rosenbaum’s conviction after reviewing the effectiveness of her defense and the conflict of interest claims.

Issue	Rosenbaum's Argument	State's Argument	Held
1. Ineffective assistance—failure to ask for justification instruction	Defense should have requested justification charge for emergency medical care	Counsel’s pursuit of accident defense was reasonable strategy	No deficiency—counsel's decision was objectively reasonable
2. Ineffective assistance due to conflict of interest (joint counsel)	Joint representation with husband was a non-waivable conflict, impairing defense	Any potential conflict was waivable, and Rosenbaum knowingly waived it	Conflict was waivable and validly waived by Rosenbaum
3. Requirement for on-the-record conflict waiver colloquy	Trial court should have personally questioned Rosenbaum about waiver	No constitutional or state requirement for such a colloquy	No colloquy required; written, informed waiver sufficient
4. Validity of Rosenbaum’s waiver	Waiver not knowing, intelligent, or voluntary due to circumstances	Rosenbaum was intelligent, informed, and repeatedly consulted with counsel	Waiver valid given her background, conduct, and facts

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (standard for ineffective assistance claims)
Wheat v. United States, 486 U.S. 153 (presumption in favor of counsel of choice and conflict waivers)
Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335 (ethical obligation re: conflicting representations)
Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475 (no per se presumption of conflict in joint representation)
Registe v. State, 287 Ga. 542 (Sixth Amendment right to counsel of choice and conflict waivers)
Hamilton v. State, 255 Ga. 468 (no presumption of prejudice in joint representation)
Jones v. State, 314 Ga. 400 (accident defense negates criminal intent)
Thomas v. State, 311 Ga. 706 (deficiency prong of Strickland and reasonableness of counsel’s tactics)