Wilkins v. State, 308 Ga. 131

Background

On November 3, 2013, Nathaniel Wilkins and Michael Jones allegedly followed and shot Forrest Ison and Alice Stevens; both victims died. Ballistics tied .45-caliber evidence to the scene.
Tracey Burgess (Wilkins’s sister’s girlfriend) drove Wilkins and Jones to the victims’ house, testified she heard Wilkins say they were going to rob the victims, and later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in exchange for testimony.
Co-worker Joris Cooper testified that Jones showed him a blood-stained t‑shirt from the trunk of the car Wilkins had driven and said “we” used it to wipe blood and prints; Wilkins was present and said nothing.
Trial evidence included Cooper’s testimony about the t‑shirt statement and Wilkins’s silence; Wilkins did not testify. He was convicted of two counts of malice murder and sentenced to consecutive life sentences without parole.
On appeal Wilkins challenged (1) admission of Jones’s statement as an adoptive admission via Wilkins’s silence, (2) denial of three mistrial motions over alleged hearsay, and (3) ineffective assistance for failing to object to certain jury instructions (accomplice-corroborating-accomplice language and repeated definitions of aggravated assault).

Issues

Issue	Wilkins' Argument	State's Argument	Held
Admissibility of Jones’s statement to Cooper as an adoptive admission	Statement ambiguous; Wilkins lacked full context and his silence had little probative value and was unfairly prejudicial (OCGA §24-4-403)	Under OCGA §24-8-801(d)(2)(B) silence can be adoptive if an innocent person would normally respond and there are facts to infer the defendant heard and acquiesced	Trial court did not abuse discretion; statement admissible as adoptive admission (found Wilkins heard, understood, and acquiesced)
Denial of three mistrial motions for allegedly hearsay statements (Cooper’s “murder weapon,” Cooper’s reference to prior Jones statement, detective’s report of receiving info)	Each statement was inadmissible hearsay and/or violated Confrontation Clause; warranted mistrial	Statements were passing/ambiguous, cured by prompt curative instructions, added nothing new, and did not violate confrontation rights	Denials were within trial court’s discretion; curative instructions and jurors’ assurances made mistrials unnecessary
Ineffective assistance for failure to object to accomplice‑corroborating‑accomplice instruction	Instruction inapplicable because only one accomplice (Burgess) testified; including it authorized a theory not supported by evidence	Even if inapplicable, giving that surplus instruction is generally harmless; jury still needed other corroboration and there was other evidence	No prejudice shown; claim fails. Court disapproved a contrary rule in Crosby and held any error harmless here
Ineffective assistance for failing to object to repeated definitions of aggravated assault	Repetition could be prejudicial; counsel should have objected	Definitions were correct and repetition did not render them argumentative or prejudicial	No prejudice shown; repetition of a correct instruction not reversible; claim fails (and cumulative prejudice was insufficient)

Key Cases Cited

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Orr, 305 Ga. 729 (2019) (adoptive admissions under Georgia’s new Evidence Code and use of federal guidance)
United States v. Jenkins, 779 F.2d 606 (11th Cir. 1986) (criteria for adoptive admissions: statement likely to induce response and facts to infer hearing/acquiescence)
United States v. Carter, 760 F.2d 1568 (11th Cir. 1985) (trial court must make preliminary finding on adoptive admission foundational facts)
United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171 (1975) (custodial silence may be ambiguous and undermine adoptive‑admission inference)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) (test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Childs v. State, 287 Ga. 488 (2010) (mistrial relief within trial court’s discretion; reversal only when necessary to preserve fair trial)
Kirby v. State, 304 Ga. 472 (2018) (a witness cannot use inadmissible hearsay to show personal knowledge)
Anglin v. State, 302 Ga. 333 (2017) (adoptive admission may be highly probative and not unfairly prejudicial)