Albury v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Riki Ray Albury’s convictions for malice murder and related crimes arising from the stabbing death of Ronald Roach. The court held that Albury waived ordinary appellate review of his juror and jury-polling claims, that the trial court properly admitted a post-incision autopsy photograph under the Georgia Evidence Code, and that counsel was not ineffective for pursuing an all-or-nothing defense without requesting a voluntary-manslaughter instruction.

Holdings

1. A defendant who does not object or move to strike jurors for cause does not preserve the issue for ordinary appellate review, and plain-error review is unavailable for this type of claim absent a specific statutory provision.
2. The trial court implicitly conducted the required Rule 403 balancing analysis, and it did not abuse its discretion in admitting the post-incision autopsy photograph because the photograph was relevant and its probative value was not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice.
3. Albury failed to establish ineffective assistance because, even assuming counsel performed deficiently by not requesting further inquiry of the other jurors, he presented no evidence showing a reasonable probability that the outcome would have been different.
4. Counsel was not constitutionally ineffective for pursuing an all-or-nothing defense and, after consulting with Albury, not requesting a voluntary-manslaughter instruction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by failing to excuse two jurors for cause based on scheduling conflicts when Albury did not object or move to strike them.
2. Whether the trial court erred by admitting a post-incision autopsy photograph without expressly referencing the Rule 403 balancing test.
3. Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request that the other jurors be questioned after Juror 28 became ill while the autopsy photograph was displayed.
4. Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request or object to the omission of a voluntary-manslaughter jury instruction as part of an agreed all-or-nothing defense strategy.

Disposition

affirmed