Smith v. State, 296 Ga. 731

Background

On Oct. 1, 2010, a shooting at an apartment complex following an earlier fight at a children’s party left Raynell Cornell dead from a single chest gunshot; three .380 shell casings were found at the scene.
Perrie Quintez Smith arrived after a prior altercation; he left the scene in a white Jeep Cherokee with Rocheford Harris and Andre Woods and was stopped by police shortly thereafter.
Police recovered two handguns from Harris’s Jeep, including a black Cobra .380; ballistics matched the Cobra to the victim’s bullet. A photo from Smith’s cell phone (taken three months earlier) showed Smith holding a similar handgun.
The State obtained a warrant to search five cell phones seized during the investigation; the cell-phone photograph of Smith holding a gun was admitted at trial.
Smith was convicted of malice murder, one count of felony murder (vacated), aggravated assault (merged for sentencing), possession of a firearm during a felony, and possession of a firearm by a probationer; he appealed asserting ineffective assistance of counsel and that the trial court should have charged voluntary manslaughter.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Smith)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Was the evidence sufficient for convictions?	Evidence insufficient to prove Smith was shooter beyond reasonable doubt	Evidence (ballistics, phone photo, eyewitness proximity) supports convictions	Held: Evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia; convictions affirmed
Was counsel ineffective for not moving to suppress cell‑phone evidence?	Warrant lacked probable cause and was overbroad; photo should have been suppressed	Affidavit provided fair probability evidence relevant to the crime would be on phones; warrant particular enough	Held: No ineffective assistance—motion would have been meritless; warrant supported probable cause
Was counsel ineffective for not objecting to portions of prosecutor’s closing?	Counsel should have objected to newspaper analogy and community‑safety appeals	Decisions whether to object were tactical; arguments were supported by evidence or permissible appeals to enforce law	Held: No ineffective assistance—strategy reasonable and remarks not improper
Did trial court err by refusing jury charge on voluntary manslaughter?	Evidence of provocation/heat of passion warranted lesser‑included instruction	No evidence of the requisite sudden, violent, irresistible passion from serious provocation	Held: No error—evidence did not meet legal standard for voluntary manslaughter charge

Key Cases Cited

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (conviction must be supported by evidence from which a rational trier of fact could find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two‑prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (warrantless cell‑phone searches generally require a warrant)
Biggs v. State, 281 Ga. 627 (defendant bears burden to show suppressed evidence would have been excluded)
Hargrove v. State, 291 Ga. 879 (failure to satisfy either Strickland prong defeats ineffective‑assistance claim)
Prince v. State, 295 Ga. 788 (presumption that counsel’s conduct is within reasonable professional norms)
State v. Palmer, 285 Ga. 75 (practical, common‑sense probable cause standard for warrants)
Glenn v. State, 288 Ga. 462 (doubtful probable‑cause cases resolved in favor of upholding warrants)
Reaves v. State, 284 Ga. 181 (warrants with residual clauses limited to items relevant to identified crimes are sufficiently particular)
Merritt v. State, 292 Ga. 327 (slight evidence of serious provocation requires manslaughter charge)
Brown v. State, 294 Ga. 677 (fear of a gun or fighting alone do not mandate voluntary manslaughter charge)
Gresham v. State, 289 Ga. 103 (words alone generally insufficient for passion required for voluntary manslaughter)
Westmoreland v. State, 287 Ga. 688 (declining to object can be a tactical decision)
Westbrook v. State, 291 Ga. 60 (counsel’s silence must be patently unreasonable to be deficient)
Scott v. State, 290 Ga. 883 (failure to object to closing argument generally waives claim on appeal)