Slack v. State, 288 Ga. 659

Slack and Travis Scott were at Valerie Robinson's apartment with others, consuming alcohol and drugs.
Slack was observed with a Tech-9 pistol and, after a sequence of events, shot Scott in the head, killing him.
Roberts witnessed the shooting, was shot in the leg while fleeing, and saw Slack continue firing at him.
All bullets at the scene were fired from a 9 millimeter pistol, the same caliber as the Tech-9.
Slack was indicted on malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during a crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon/first offender; he was tried on Counts 1–4 and found guilty, with Count 5 found guilty by the court.
The trial court sentenced Slack to life on malice murder, five years for possession during a crime (concurrent with Count 1), and five years for firearm by felon/first offender (concurrent with Count 4 and consecutive to Count 1). Count 3 merged for sentencing; Count 2 was vacated by operation of law.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Slack claims the evidence does not support his convictions.	Slack argues insufficient evidence to sustain the verdicts.	Evidence sufficient; rational jury could find guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Merger/double jeopardy of felony murder and aggravated assault	Slack contends merging created multiple convictions for same conduct in violation of OCGA 16-1-7.	State argues proper factual and legal merger; no new convictions after malice murder.	Felony murder vacated by operation of law; aggravated assault merger proper for sentencing.
Ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to investigate mental illness history	Slack asserts trial counsel failed to investigate mental illness history, constituting ineffective assistance.	Claim not preserved; new counsel did not raise it below; lack of record defeats it.	Claim fails; not properly preserved and record shows no trial-court basis argued.

Bell v. State, 287 Ga. 670, 697 S.E.2d 793 (2010) (distinguishes convictions from judgments of conviction; merger context)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369, 434 S.E.2d 479 (1993) (merger principles and sentencing merger guidance)
Walker v. Hale, 283 Ga. 131, 657 S.E.2d 227 (2008) (double jeopardy and convictions vs. prosecutions)
Jennings v. State, 282 Ga. 679, 653 S.E.2d 17 (2007) (ineffective assistance of counsel; preservation rules)
Pruitt v. State, 279 Ga. 140, 611 S.E.2d 47 (2005) (ineffective assistance; preservation and review standards)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560 (1981) (sufficiency of evidence standard for guilty verdicts)