Rucker v. State
293 Ga. 116
| Ga. | 2013Background
- Rucker was convicted of felony murder and aggravated assault for the 2006 Kidd killing; he appeals.
- He contends the trial court erred by denying a mistrial when the prosecutor injected his character into evidence during cross-examination of a defense witness.
- He also argues the court erred by not allowing impeachment of a prosecution witness with evidence of a pending indictment to show bias.
- Rucker seeks an evidentiary hearing on ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
- Evidence showed Kidd died from stab wounds after a fight on the front porch; knives were present; Gray and Rucker both had knives; Rucker claimed Gray committed the crimes.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mistrial for improper character evidence | Rucker | State | No abuse of discretion |
| Impeachment with pending indictment | Rucker | State | No reversible error; curative instructions sufficient |
| Admissibility of Gray's pending charges to show bias | Rucker | State | Not preserved; trial court ruling not clearly contravened |
| Ineffective assistance on appeal after out-of-time appeal | Rucker | State | barred; failure to file a new-trial motion after out-of-time appeal forecloses appellate ineffectiveness review |
| Sufficiency of the evidence | Rucker | State | Evidence sufficient to sustain conviction |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (sufficiency standard for criminal conviction)
- Agee v. State, 279 Ga. 774 (Ga. 2005) (abuse-of-discretion review for mistrial decisions)
- Cannon v. State, 288 Ga. 225 (Ga. 2010) (curative instructions can cure improper impeachment)
- Ellington v. State, 292 Ga. 109 (Ga. 2012) (mistrial and evidentiary error review)
- McBee v. State, 228 Ga. App. 16 (Ga. App. 1997) (impeachment and witness credibility considerations)
- Isaac v. State, 269 Ga. 875 (Ga. 1998) (preservation requirement for impeaching witnesses)
- Boatman v. State, 272 Ga. 139 (Ga. 2000) (procedural bar for raising bias-impeachment issues on appeal)
- Maddox v. State, 278 Ga. 823 (Ga. 2005) (post-out-of-time-appeal requirement to raise ineffective-assistance claims)
- Chatman v. State, 265 Ga. 177 (Ga. 1995) (need to raise issues at trial to preserve for appeal)
- Moore v. State, 280 Ga. 766 (Ga. 2006) (ineffective-assistance review barred after out-of-time appeal)