Turner v. State, 300 Ga. 513

On Jan. 9, 2012, Earlin Turner entered a BP convenience store in Conley, GA; an altercation occurred between Turner and employee Damodar Pathak in the store’s gaming room and continued into the parking lot.
Surveillance footage captured much of the struggle but did not clearly show who fired the fatal shot; the store videos have no sound and no camera in the gaming room.
Witness Cuevin Stringer heard a shot after leaving the store and claimed Turner pulled a chrome revolver; employee Joseph Pryor observed the struggle and saw Turner shoot Pathak in the torso during the fight. Pathak was shot three times and died from a chest wound.
Turner, a convicted felon, was indicted for malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; he was convicted on all counts and sentenced to life without parole on the malice murder conviction.
On appeal Turner asserted ineffective assistance of counsel for (a) failing to pursue a self-defense theory and (b) failing to properly advise him about his right to testify; he also filed a motion for new trial which was denied below.

Issue	Turner’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective for not asserting self-defense	Counsel should have requested a self‑defense theory/charge	Turner consistently denied shooting Pathak; no evidence Pathak had a weapon; counsel reasonably pursued mistaken-identity/attack on eyewitnesses	Counsel’s strategy was reasonable; no deficient performance and no prejudice under Strickland — claim fails
Whether counsel inadequately advised Turner about right to testify	Counsel failed to inform Turner or otherwise deprived him of the choice to testify	Counsel and the trial court advised Turner of his right; Turner affirmatively declined and never told counsel he wanted to testify	Record shows Turner was informed and knowingly waived; no ineffective assistance

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes standard for sufficiency of the evidence review)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance-of-counsel two-prong test)
McLean v. State, 297 Ga. 81 (defendant must admit shooting to get a jury charge on self-defense of the act)
Wright v. State, 291 Ga. 869 (standards for ineffective assistance review in Georgia)
Fuller v. State, 277 Ga. 505 (Strickland prong discussion)
Robinson v. State, 277 Ga. 75 (appellate review defers to trial court’s factual findings and credibility)
Smith v. State, 283 Ga. 237 (strategic choice by counsel not necessarily ineffective)
Mobley v. State, 264 Ga. 854 (defense counsel’s obligation regarding a defendant’s decision to testify)
Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (vacatur of certain felony-murder counts by operation of law)