Hung v. State, 282 Ga. 684

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Mac The Hung's convictions for malice murder and three counts of aggravated assault, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdicts. The court remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing on Hung's claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel because the issue was raised at the first practicable opportunity. The court held that the alleged ineffectiveness of counsel who handled the motion for new trial was moot and that counsel was not deficient for failing to challenge another attorney from the same public defender's office.

Holdings

1. The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Hung guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder and three counts of aggravated assault.
2. A defendant's ineffective-assistance claims are not barred when the attorney who handled the motion for new trial was from the same public defender's office as trial counsel; the claims are raised at the first practicable moment when presented on appeal after the motion for new trial.
3. The question whether motion-for-new-trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise ineffective assistance of trial counsel was moot, and the failure could not constitute deficient performance under the circumstances.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Hung's convictions for malice murder and three counts of aggravated assault.
2. Whether Hung's ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claims were procedurally preserved when the attorney who handled the motion for new trial was from the same public defender's office as trial counsel.
3. Whether counsel who handled the motion for new trial rendered ineffective assistance by failing to raise ineffective assistance of trial counsel.

Disposition

other