S24A0179. RICHARDSON v. THE STATE.
S24A0179
In the Supreme Court of Georgia
Decided: March 19, 2024
LAGRUA, Justice.
Appellant Matthew Richardson appeals his convictions for felony murder and other crimes related to the shooting death of Julius Aderhold, III.1 Richardson contends that (1) the trial court committed plain error when it admitted testimony of a detective that
1. This case involves a drive-by shooting on January 30, 2018, during which Richardson‘s friend and passenger Aderhold was shot and killed. The evidence presented at trial showed that Richardson was upset with Jabari Johnson for his alleged involvement in stealing a gun belonging to Richardson‘s cousin. Johnson testified that, on January 29, Richardson called Johnson‘s girlfriend and asked about the stolen gun. The next day, January 30, Richardson visited Johnson‘s house. Discovering that only Johnson‘s two sisters were home, Richardson called Johnson on the phone while standing
At another point that afternoon at Young‘s house, the mother of Young‘s child was upstairs and saw a man standing outside the front door holding a gun. She did not answer the door, but she called Young and said a man was there with a gun. The man left by the end of this phone call. Young later told investigators that this man was Richardson based on what his child‘s mother told him, but at trial, both Young and his child‘s mother testified that they did not know if the man was Richardson.
During these phone calls to Young and Johnson, Young was driving Johnson and their friend Marquise Arnold to pick up Arnold‘s paycheck. In response to Richardson‘s threats against
Testimony at trial diverged about what happened next. Johnson testified that he heard approximately three gunshots while inside the house, grabbed a pistol, exited through the back door, and ran along the side of the house to the front. On the street in front of the house, Johnson saw Richardson leaning out of an SUV shooting a handgun at him and Young. Johnson also witnessed Young shooting at Richardson, and Johnson began shooting at Richardson as well until his gun jammed, at which point he ran inside the house,
Young testified that, while he was standing in front of his house, he saw Richardson driving up in an SUV and heard gunshots coming from the direction of the street where the SUV was driving. Young assumed Richardson was shooting at him, although he could not see whether Richardson had a gun. Young began shooting at the SUV. At that moment, Young could not see Johnson, but believed he was outside by the side of the house when the shooting began, explaining that he thought so “because [Johnson was] still over there, like, spazzing out and stuff, pacing back and forth. . . . talking to himself and stuff.” Young testified that, two months later, Johnson told him that he was the one who started shooting first, not Richardson. Johnson testified that he never told Young that he shot first and noted that he and Young were no longer friends due to a
According to testimony from Young, Johnson, and others in the neighborhood, Richardson stopped the SUV a few houses away, exited, and ran to a neighbor‘s house to find help. Young and Johnson went back inside Young‘s house and waited for police to arrive. Richardson got back in the SUV, but a police officer responding to the scene stopped and apprehended him before he could leave the neighborhood. The officer found Aderhold dead in the passenger seat, bleeding from a gunshot wound.
Investigators retrieved a .38-caliber revolver from behind the driver‘s seat in the SUV and a .40-caliber pistol underneath Aderhold‘s body. The gun behind the driver‘s seat contained five spent shell casings, but the gun underneath Aderhold was fully loaded. Investigators also retrieved a 9mm pistol from Young and a .45-caliber pistol from Johnson. Several 9mm and .45-caliber casings were recovered from the scene. The medical examiner testified that
That evening, Young and Johnson were taken to the police station where Detective Nikita Moss interviewed them separately after they waived their Miranda4 rights.5 During his interview, Johnson said that he heard gunshots while inside Young‘s house, ran outside through the back door, and began shooting back. Additionally, Johnson told Detective Moss during his interview that the initial “three shots didn‘t come from [Young‘s] gun.” At trial, Johnson gave a similar account and admitted that he implicated Richardson, but he testified that he did not know who shot first.
During Young‘s interview, he told Detective Moss that he saw Richardson driving down the street “flashing” a handgun and that he saw Richardson shoot first. At trial, Young admitted he told
While under direct examination at trial, Detective Moss testified as follows regarding her interviews of Young and Johnson:
STATE: What about Dominique Young, while you talked to him, did he talk freely to you?
MOSS: Yes.
STATE: Did he speak as if what he said was rehearsed?
MOSS: No.
STATE: Did every detail that he gave to you, did it sound from talking with both Jabari Johnson and Dominique Young as if they were attempting to give you the same story?
MOSS: No, ma‘am.
STATE: And why do you say that?
MOSS: From details that Dominique gave, some were not the same as Jabari‘s. For instance, Dominique stated that Jabari was outside with him and ran to the side of the house, but Jabari said he walked outside when he heard the shots, ran back through the house to the side of the house.
STATE: And were both of them talking about various times? Like, in other words, as they are talking to you, are they talking conversationally?
MOSS: Yes.
STATE: Okay. And did they seem as if they were searching for what the truth was while they were talking to you?
MOSS: Yes.
STATE: Did they seem to have trouble figuring out or telling you what the truth was?
MOSS: What do you mean?
STATE: What I mean is, did they seem to have any trouble telling you what they were recounting?
MOSS: No.
STATE: And was the information that they were recounting coming freely?
MOSS: Yes.
Richardson‘s trial counsel did not object to this testimony.
2. On appeal, Richardson contends that—when Detective Moss answered “yes” to the prosecutor‘s question, “Did they seem as if they were searching for what the truth was while they were talking to you?“—Detective Moss improperly bolstered Young‘s and Johnson‘s interview statements that Richardson shot at them first and they only returned fire in self-defense. Richardson argues that the trial court committed plain error by admitting Detective Moss‘s testimony at trial and that his trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the testimony. We hold that Richardson has failed to show plain error or ineffective assistance of counsel.
We have explained that, pursuant to
a witness, even an expert, can never bolster the credibility of another witness as to whether the witness is telling the truth. Credibility of a witness is not beyond the ken of the jurors but, to the contrary, is a matter solely within the province of the jury. When a witness‘s statement does not directly address the credibility of another witness, however, there is no improper bolstering. And when we evaluate whether testimony constitutes improper bolstering, we consider the disputed testimony in context.
Brown v. State, 302 Ga. 454, 460-461 (2) (b) (807 SE2d 369) (2017) (citations and punctuation omitted).
(a) We apply the plain-error standard to evidentiary rulings to which the appellant did not object at trial. Pender v. State, 311 Ga. 98, 111 (3) (856 SE2d 302) (2021);
Any error here was not clear and obvious beyond reasonable
Here, we consider the “disputed testimony in context.” Brown, 302 Ga. at 461 (2) (b). Considering the other questions asked of Detective Moss, it appears her testimony only explained how Young and Johnson said what they said, which is not necessarily a direct comment on their credibility. Indeed, the next question from the prosecutor was whether Young and Johnson had “trouble figuring out or telling you what the truth was,” which the prosecutor rephrased to, ”What I mean is, did they seem to have any trouble telling you what they were recounting?” Depending on context, a mere reference to “the truth” does not necessarily indicate direct
(b) To show ineffective assistance of counsel for his trial counsel‘s failure to object to Detective Moss‘s testimony, Richardson “must prove both that his trial counsel‘s performance was deficient and that there is a reasonable probability that the trial result would
We hold that Richardson has failed to show that his trial counsel‘s performance was deficient. “To satisfy the deficiency prong, [Richardson] must demonstrate that his attorney performed at trial in an objectively unreasonable way considering all the circumstances and in the light of prevailing professional norms.” Harris v. State, 310 Ga. 372, 384 (4) (850 SE2d 77) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). We have already held that this testimony was not a clear case of improper bolstering. Accordingly, we cannot say that no reasonable lawyer would have failed to object to such testimony on the grounds of improper bolstering.7 See Ivey, 305 Ga.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.