William Maurice Butler v. State
354 Ga. App. 473
Ga. Ct. App.2020Background
- Butler and V.W. dated and "formerly lived together;" they had prior altercations including a March 6, 2015 incident where Butler struck V.W. and a magistrate issued a March 13, 2015 no-contact condition as part of bond.
- V.W. and Butler continued contact after March 13; police responded to another contact on March 22, 2015 and obtained a warrant for violating the order.
- On April 25, 2015 Butler entered a liquor store, pursued V.W., and repeatedly stabbed her; surveillance video, eyewitnesses, and medical records showed serious injuries and permanent scarring.
- Butler was tried on multiple counts; the jury convicted him of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, aggravated stalking, two counts of possession of a knife during a felony, and family violence battery; acquitted on attempted murder and some counts.
- The trial court sentenced Butler as a recidivist to 35 years (first 30 in confinement). Butler appealed, challenging sufficiency on two counts, trial counsel performance, a jury instruction, and the recidivist enhancement based on five Florida convictions.
Issues
| Issue | Butler's Argument | State's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sufficiency of evidence for family violence battery | State failed to prove Butler "formerly lived" with V.W.; so family-violence element not met | V.W. testified they lived together and other evidence supports convictions | Affirmed: V.W.'s testimony sufficed to prove household relationship; stalking order in effect on April 25 was supported by record, so aggravated stalking conviction upheld |
| Ineffective assistance for failure to object to no-contact order and prior Florida pleas | Counsel should have objected because the bond/order and prior pleas were invalid absent proof of cohabitation | Evidence (V.W.'s testimony) established cohabitation; objections would have been meritless | Denied: Failure to object to a meritless issue is not deficient; no prejudice shown |
| Jury instruction referencing "bent of mind" (prior difficulties evidence) | Charge misstated Evidence Code ("bent of mind" eliminated) and counsel was ineffective for assent/failure to object | Defense waived plain error by affirmatively accepting the charge; any counsel lapse did not create reasonable probability of different outcome | No reversible error: defendant waived plain-error review; even as ineffectiveness claim, charge read as a whole posed no substantial risk of prejudice |
| Recidivist sentencing using Florida convictions | Five Florida convictions used to enhance sentence were not equivalent to Georgia felonies (esp. Florida "felony battery" lacks Georgia malice element) | State offered certified convictions; existence of priors not disputed; they qualify as predicate felonies | Sentence VACATED and remanded: Florida felony-battery convictions did not match Georgia aggravated-battery elements (malice), so Butler lacked three qualifying predicate felonies for OCGA § 17-10-7(c) |
Key Cases Cited
- Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (establishes sufficiency-of-evidence standard for criminal convictions)
- Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (sets two-part test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
- Nordahl v. State, 306 Ga. 15 (framework for assessing whether out-of-state convictions qualify as predicates under OCGA § 17-10-7)
- Brooks v. State, 298 Ga. 722 (explains that the "bent of mind" doctrine was eliminated from Georgia Evidence Code)
- von Thomas v. State, 293 Ga. 569 (recidivist sentencing requires existence and validity of three prior felony convictions)