Appellant Kemra Matthews appeals his convictions for felony murder and related crimes stemming from the death of two-year-old
1. Appellant alleges the evidence was insufficient to convict him of the crimes for which the jury returned verdicts of guilty. We disagree. The record, viewed in a light most favorable to upholding the jury’s verdicts, shows that the victims, along with their two other siblings, Jaylan Harvey
On the morning of July 11, 2012, Ashley went to work, leaving appellant to care for the children. At about 10:00 or 10:30 that morning, appellant took the children to Martin’s apartment for Aikens to watch the children. Ashton was vomiting when he arrived, and Aikens testified appellant told her that Ashton had vomited back at his apartment earlier that morning. Appellant told Aikens he was going to beat Ashton. Because Aikens had to leave for a doctor’s appointment, Martin ended up watching the children. Martin testified that Ashton vomited about seven to eight times for the hour or so he was in her care that morning. When appellant returned to take the children home, Martin gave him some stomach medicine to give to Ashton. Martin said appellant carried KJ, while the other three children walked home. At about 1:00 that afternoon, Aikens went to appellant’s apartment. Aikens said Ashton was sitting on the floor next to a plastic garbage bag. He had a plate of ravioli and a bottle of water, but he was still vomiting. Jadien was standing in the corner because, according to appellant, the toddler was being punished for defecating in his pants.
At about 3:00 p.m., appellant showed up at the apartment leasing office. He had an unresponsive Jadien in his arms. The leasing manager called 911 and then went to retrieve the other children whom appellant had left in the apartment. When she saw Ashton, he was walking slowly and holding his stomach. When first responders arrived at the leasing office, Jadien was in cardiac arrest, showing no signs of life from the time paramedics arrived to the time he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Ashton was also taken to the hospital and underwent exploratory surgery for suspected internal injuries. Ashton had a perforated intestine which had to be surgically repaired. Ashton also had a fractured tibia, some injury to his lower spine consistent with being slammed down onto his bottom, and an injury to his genitalia. An expert in child abuse pediatrics testified Ashton’s injuries were consistent with physical abuse, particularly
While recovering in the hospital, Ashton responded to a series of questions posed to him by his maternal grandmother and affirmatively indicated to her that appellant had hit him in his stomach and had hit Jadien. The grandmother reported this information to police. Ashton was subsequently questioned by a number of professionals involved with the case, including a Department of Family and Children Services (DFACS) caseworker,
The medical examiner testified that Jadien died from blunt force trauma to the head. Jadien also had other injuries, including bleeding in the abdomen caused by blunt force trauma, bleeding in the optic nerve which indicated an acceleration into an object and pulling back, and a linear skull fracture which was consistent with being slammed into a wall.
The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia,
2. Appellant contends counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to engage and present an expert witness at trial to provide counter testimony to the expert witnesses presented by the State. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, appellant
must show counsel’s performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced him to the point that a reasonable probability exists that, but for counsel’s errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different. A strong presumption exists that counsel’s conduct falls within the broad range of professional conduct.
(Citation and punctuation omitted.) Pruitt v. State,
Typically, the decision whether to present an expert witness is a matter of trial strategy that, if reasonable, will not sustain a claim of ineffective assistance. See Eason v. State,
Appellant presented a forensic interview expert at the motion for new trial hearing in an attempt to make a proffer in support of his ineffective assistance claim; however, the trial court determined the expert’s testimony did not rebut the testimony of the professionals who spoke to Ashton about the events at bar. The trial court also noted that appellant’s proffered expert did not opine that Ashton had been coached. We agree appellant failed to meet his burden of showing his counsel’s performance was deficient. See Jones v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The crimes occurred on July 11, 2012. On February 27,2013, a Clayton County grand jury indicted appellant on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault (Jadien Harvey), aggravated battery (Jadien Harvey, skull fracture), aggravated battery (Jadien Harvey, eye injury), cruelty to children first degree (Jadien Harvey, strike to stomach), cruelty to children first degree (Jadien Harvey, strike to head), aggravated assault (Ashton Capers), aggravated battery (Ashton Capers, spine fracture), aggravated battery (Ashton Capers, left tibia fracture), cruelty to children first degree (Ashton Capers, strike to stomach), and cruelty to children first degree (Ashton Capers, leg fracture). Appellant was tried before a jury on March 10-14, 2014, with the jury returning verdicts of guilty on all charges in the indictment. On March 28, 2014, the trial court sentenced appellant to life without parole for felony murder plus seven concurrent 20-year sentences on the various felony counts that did not merge for sentencing purposes. On March 28, 2014, appellant moved for a new trial and amended the motion on March 24, 2015. On April 23, 2015, the trial court held a hearing on the motion as amended and denied it on June 10, 2015. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on June 24, 2015. Upon receipt of the record, the case was docketed in this Court and assigned to the term beginning in December 2016. The case is submitted for a decision to be made on the briefs.
Jadien and Jaylan were twin brothers.
Ashley Harvey testified the twins were being potty-trained at the time these events occurred.
DFACS had opened a case concerning the family pursuant to a complaint made in April 2012. A DFACS caseworker who visited the family on July 9, 2012, two days before the events at issue, testified that the children were in good health as of her July 9 visit.
Ashton, who was six years old at the time of trial, testified appellant hurt him in the stomach.
On the day in question, authorities found a hole in the wall of appellant’s apartment that had not been there when Ashley Harvey left for work that morning.