Vann v. State, 311 Ga. 301

On August 24, 2012, Tiesha Davis was shot and killed outside her home; James Vann was arrested later that day and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and two firearm-possession counts.
At trial (Aug. 2013) witnesses (Moore, White, Richburg) placed Vann at the scene with a gun; police recovered shell casings and a magazine; Vann had a small wound and blood was observed in his car.
Vann was convicted on all counts; the trial court sentenced him to life without parole for malice murder plus additional consecutive and concurrent terms; one aggravated-assault conviction and one firearm-possession conviction were vacated post-trial for merger and evidentiary defect, respectively.
Defense theory: Vann’s counsel argued accident/involuntary manslaughter and that Davis was struck in crossfire when Richburg fired at Vann; counsel requested charges on accident and involuntary manslaughter but did not request voluntary manslaughter.
Vann moved for a new trial claiming ineffective assistance for failing to request a voluntary-manslaughter jury instruction; after a hearing the trial court denied relief on that ground and Vann appealed.
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed, holding counsel was not constitutionally deficient in omitting a voluntary-manslaughter charge.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting a voluntary-manslaughter instruction	Vann: counsel should have adapted when involuntary/accident charges were refused and requested voluntary manslaughter because evidence supported provocation and eyewitnesses placed Vann as shooter	State: counsel reasonably pursued an all-or-nothing strategy (accident/involuntary); voluntary manslaughter did not fit the provocation evidence and conflicted with defense that Richburg fired	Court: Not ineffective — strategy reasonable; evidence suggested opportunity to cool and voluntary manslaughter conflicted with defense theory

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (establishes two-prong test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Gardner v. State, 310 Ga. 515 (discusses deference to reasonable tactical choices by counsel)
Velasco v. State, 306 Ga. 888 (approves all-or-nothing defense strategy as permissible)
Davenport v. State, 309 Ga. 385 (addresses appellate review practices for non-death penalty cases)
Jessie v. State, 294 Ga. 375 (counsel not unreasonable for concluding evidence did not support serious provocation)
Barron v. State, 297 Ga. 706 (voluntary manslaughter instruction unwarranted where evidence shows cooling time)
Gaston v. State, 307 Ga. 634 (defense choices rarely unreasonable when pursuing logically consistent theories)