Smith v. State, 292 Ga. 620

This Court reversed Smith’s first malice murder conviction for misclassifying his sleepwalking defense as insanity.
On June 5, 2003, Smith’s wife was killed by a single gunshot to the back of her head while she slept.
A .9 mm pistol was found under the victim’s pillow, with the pillow showing bullet holes and a live round in the chamber.
Smith initially told police he kept the gun under the pillow for safety and later testified the gun discharged during sleep after a noise.
Witnesses described Smith as jealous, possessive, and abusive; the victim had discussed divorce and contemplated a trip without him, creating a motive/pattern context.
At retrial, Smith was convicted of malice murder; the present appeal challenges insufficiency of the evidence, trial counsel ineffectiveness, and evidentiary/jury-instruction errors.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence	Smith argues insufficient evidence supports malice murder.	State contends evidence is legally adequate to sustain the verdict.	Evidence sufficient for reasonable jurors
Ineffective assistance for not pursuing sleepwalking	Counsel failed to pursue a sleepwalking defense.	Counsel’s strategic choice favored defective-weapon theory over sleepwalking.	Counsel’s strategy not deficient
New-trial evidentiary procedure and rulings	Trial court should re-hear all pretrial rulings after reversal.	Trial court properly reviewed prior rulings without starting from scratch.	Trial court properly exercised discretion
Custodial statement admissibility	Statement improperly obtained due to access by an attorney.	Waiver and reinitiation practices rendered waiver valid.	Custodial statement admissible
Involuntary manslaughter instruction	Trial court should have instructed on misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter.	Accident theory did not fit a lawful act in an unlawful manner.	No error in omitting misdemeanor charge

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence)
Franks v. State, 268 Ga. 238 (Ga. 1997) (pretrial questioning for basic biographical data not interrogation)
Devega v. State, 286 Ga. 448 (Ga. 2010) (further questioning after waiver does not violate rights)
Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412 (U.S. Supreme Court, 1986) (unknown to defendant facts cannot affect waiver validity)
Watkins v. State, 289 Ga. 359 (Ga. 2011) (pretrial waiver and voluntariness review standards)
Smith v. State, 283 Ga. 237 (Ga. 2008) (strategic defense decisions require client consultation but ultimately by counsel)
Hargrove v. State, 291 Ga. 879 (Ga. 2012) (standard for evaluating trial counsel performance)
Ritter v. State, 272 Ga. 551 (Ga. 2000) (trial court discretion to reconsider pretrial rulings after reversal)
Moss v. State, 274 Ga. 740 (Ga. 2002) (demonstrative evidence may accompany deliberations)