Wells v. State, 295 Ga. 161

On Nov. 21, 2003, Corey Sinkfield was fatally shot in a residential parking area; bullet entered his cheek from a few inches away and there was one 9mm casing recovered; murder weapon not found.
Witness Derrick Gardner (later incarcerated) identified Wells as the shooter, testified he saw Wells swing a handgun and the gun discharge; Gardner initially told police Wells shot Sinkfield but had credibility issues and was reportedly threatened in jail.
Defense theory at trial: Wells was not at the scene and someone else (suggestively Gardner) was the shooter; jury acquitted Wells of malice murder but convicted him of felony murder (based on aggravated assault) and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; aggravated assault merged.
Wells moved for new trial alleging (1) ineffective assistance because counsel failed to request an involuntary manslaughter instruction and (2) the trial court improperly expressed an opinion under OCGA § 17-8-57 during jury charge; the trial court denied relief.
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed, holding the evidence sufficient and rejecting both the ineffective-assistance and judicial-opinion claims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Wells)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Sufficiency of the evidence for convictions	Evidence insufficient to prove Wells guilty beyond reasonable doubt	Witness ID, forensic evidence, and circumstances support conviction	Affirmed: evidence sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia standard
Ineffective assistance for not requesting involuntary manslaughter instruction	Trial counsel should have requested lesser-included involuntary manslaughter charge; its omission was deficient and prejudicial	Counsel reasonably pursued an all-or-nothing innocence defense; an involuntary manslaughter theory was inconsistent, implausible, and not "patently unreasonable" to omit	Denied: no ineffective assistance — strategic decision, and no reasonable probability of a different outcome
Alleged judicial comment violating OCGA § 17-8-57	Trial court's phrasing (“deadly weapon used by the defendant”) improperly expressed opinion that Wells used the gun	The remark was a generic statement about the element of the offense and drawn from precedent; context shows no opinion on guilt	Denied: no violation — language referenced legal element generically, not a factual finding

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (sufficiency of evidence standard)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance two-prong test)
Reed v. State, 279 Ga. 81 (deference to reasonable trial strategy)
McKee v. State, 277 Ga. 577 (declining lesser charge conflicting with all-or-nothing defense)
Lattimer v. State, 231 Ga. App. 594 (statement that weapon need not be introduced into evidence)
Murphy v. State, 290 Ga. 459 (treatment of OCGA § 17-8-57 errors)