Tucker v. State, 313 Ga. App. 537

Antron Tucker was convicted by a jury of sale of Ecstasy and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in DeKalb County, Georgia.
Around 9:00 p.m. on August 11, 2006, undercover police observed a drug buy at a parking lot; Tucker drove a white truck and co-defendant Glass was in the passenger seat.
The undercover officer corroborated the drug sale by receiving Ecstasy pills from Tucker via co-defendant Berry; two photocopied $20 bills were found on Tucker.
A surveillance take-down recovered crack cocaine from the truck and almost $3,000 in cash on Glass; Tucker’s aunt Gloria and her vehicle were implicated in Tucker’s testimony.
Tucker argued ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to object to several prosecutorial statements in opening and closing arguments; the trial court denied the amended motion for new trial, and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for burden-shifting closing	Tucker	Tucker	No reversible error; no objection basis found; strategy supported
Prosecutor's testimony vouched for witnesses	Tucker	Tucker	No error; arguments supported by evidence; proper inference allowed
Golden rule argument	Tucker	Tucker	No error; allowed as permissible community-safety appeal
Opening statement about co-defendants' pleas	Tucker	Tucker	No error; trial strategy; statutory waiver defenses

Strickland v. State, 311 Ga.App. 400 (2011) (ineffective assistance standard; two-prong test)
Hayes v. State, 279 Ga. 642 (2005) (prosecutorial arguments; burden on defense)
Shirley v. State, 245 Ga. 616 (1980) (witness credibility and closing argument context)
Adams v. State, 283 Ga. 298 (2008) (closing argument rulings; evidentiary basis)
Brown v. State, 293 Ga.App. 633 (2008) (prosecutor’s closing arguments; inference from evidence)
O'Neal v. State, 288 Ga. 219 (2010) (prosecutorial statements not in evidence; corrective instruction)