Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Eric Tramaine Heard’s convictions and the denial of his amended motion for new trial arising from a burglary and attempted robbery that resulted in a homicide. The court rejected challenges concerning the sufficiency of the evidence, eyewitness identification procedures, ineffective assistance of counsel, admission and authentication of a videotaped statement, and the jury instructions.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Heard's convictions.
- Whether the photographic lineup was impermissibly suggestive and created a substantial likelihood of misidentification.
- Whether trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to file a suppression motion, impeach witnesses, investigate evidence, call a rebuttal witness, request limiting instructions, or request a jury charge on assault.
- Whether the trial court improperly admitted or failed to limit the use of a witness's videotaped statement.
- Whether the trial court erred by failing to give a jury charge on assault as related to aggravated assault.
Holdings
- The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Heard guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offenses for which he was convicted.
- The photographic lineup was not impermissibly suggestive, and the court therefore did not need to consider whether it created a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification.
- Heard failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel on any of the asserted grounds.
- The videotaped statement was sufficiently authenticated and was properly admitted.
- The failure to give a limiting instruction regarding the videotaped statement was not error because Heard did not request the instruction.
- The trial court did not err by failing to give a separate jury charge on assault because it provided the statutory definition of simple assault while charging on the aggravated-assault offenses.
Key quotations
“To establish ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that his trial counsel’s performance was professionally deficient and that but for such deficient performance there is a reasonable probability that the result of his trial would have been different.” (at 685)
“A “videotape is authenticated by showing it is a fair representation of the object, scene, or person depicted,” and any witness familiar with the subject depicted can authenticate a videotape.” (at 690)
““Limiting instructions must be requested in order for the failure to instruct to be erroneous.”” (at 691)
Factual background
Heard and another armed man entered Shereecka Pitts's home during an attempted burglary and robbery. In the presence of Pitts's two daughters and her sister, Lachauda Pitts, Heard demanded money, threatened the occupants, and shot Shereecka Pitts in the abdomen and leg; she died from her wounds. Lachauda identified Heard in a photographic lineup and at trial, and another witness's videotaped statement implicated Heard as the shooter.
Procedural history
A Clayton County grand jury indicted Heard on malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, attempted armed robbery, kidnapping, simple battery, false imprisonment, firearm offenses, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Following a February 27–March 1, 2012 jury trial, he was convicted of felony murder and numerous related offenses and received life imprisonment plus consecutive terms totaling 116 years. The trial court denied his amended motion for new trial, and the Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed.