White v. State, 293 Ga. 825

On Nov. 13, 2006, Derek Hazley was shot to death outside a church; medical examiner attributed death to a gunshot wound to the head.
Appellant Demicio White (a teenager) became a suspect; after waiving Miranda rights he submitted to four in-custody interviews and in a recorded, final interview (initiated by him) admitted shooting the victim, claiming he mistook him for someone else.
Witness testimony placed White near the victims: a girlfriend (Knight) had been on a speakerphone call with White earlier; a witness heard three young men running from the scene; another witness said he saw a white car with a black stripe linked to White and associates.
A gun recovered in the investigation was shown at trial not to be the murder weapon by the State’s firearms expert; no other weapon was recovered.
After conviction for felony murder and a life sentence, White moved for a new trial alleging multiple instances of ineffective assistance of counsel (failure to give alibi notice, inadequate voir dire follow-up, failure to subpoena cell-phone records, failure to object to admission of a non-murder weapon, and failure to exploit a witness’s inability to visually identify him).
The trial court denied the new-trial motion; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed, holding White could not show prejudice under Strickland and related Georgia precedent.

Issue	White's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Failure to file timely alibi notice	Counsel failed to give notice, so alibi evidence was barred	Father’s hearing testimony left an unverified gap; White cannot show prejudice	Denied — no prejudice because alibi testimony left a time gap undermining a clear alibi
Voir dire follow-up on juror with family victimization	Counsel should have probed further about juror’s family member being victim of violent crime	Record shows juror answered that no one was prosecuted; no showing of actual bias or prejudice	Denied — no prejudice shown from lack of additional questioning
Failure to subpoena cell-phone records	Records could corroborate whereabouts and exonerate White	No records were produced or proffered at motion hearing; speculative benefit	Denied — speculative; White failed to show what records would prove
Failure to object to admission of a recovered gun (not murder weapon)	Admission of the gun prejudiced White	Firearms evidence showed the gun could not have fired the fatal bullet; it undermined State linking weapon to White	Denied — admission favored White by showing it wasn’t the murder weapon; no prejudice
Failure to emphasize witness could not visually ID White in car	Counsel should have highlighted that witness recognized voice but not appearance	Jury heard the witness’s full testimony and could assess inconsistencies	Denied — no showing of prejudice from counsel’s tactic or omissions

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (insufficiency of evidence standard for conviction)
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (custodial interrogation warnings)
Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368 (admissibility of confessions/Jackson–Denno hearing)
Pruitt v. State, 282 Ga. 30 (Strickland framework in Georgia; ineffective assistance standard)
Wright v. State, 291 Ga. 869 (no need to reach both Strickland prongs if one fails)
Bright v. State, 292 Ga. 273 (voir dire and juror bias principles)
Heywood v. State, 292 Ga. 771 (jury’s role resolving witness inconsistencies)
Brooks v. State, 323 Ga. App. 681 (need to proffer contents of absent records to show prejudice)
Hortman v. State, 293 Ga. App. 803 (same)