Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of Santron Prickett’s motion for new trial on claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, violation of the right to be present during bench conferences, and improper prosecutorial argument. The court concluded that Prickett failed to show prejudice from counsel’s failure to stipulate to his felon status, acquiesced in the bench conferences conducted outside his presence, and suffered no harmful error from the prosecutor’s reference to a redacted jailhouse recording. The court nevertheless vacated Prickett’s convictions and sentences and remanded for resentencing because the trial court erred in sentencing him.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to stipulate to Prickett's status as a convicted felon, thereby exposing the jury to the nature of his prior conviction.
- Whether Prickett's Georgia constitutional right to be present was violated by 26 unrecorded bench conferences conducted outside his presence.
- Whether the trial court erred under OCGA § 17-8-75 by failing to rebuke the prosecutor, give a curative instruction, or declare a mistrial after the prosecutor referenced a redacted portion of a jailhouse recording during closing argument.
- Whether the trial court imposed illegal or erroneous sentences by imposing two life sentences for felony murder involving one victim and by improperly merging certain offenses.
Holdings
- Prickett failed to establish prejudice from counsel's failure to stipulate to his felony status. The limited disclosure of the prior drug conviction, the strong evidence of guilt, and the trial court's limiting instruction foreclosed a reasonable probability of a different trial outcome.
- Prickett failed to show that any of the unrecorded bench conferences implicated his constitutional right to be present. The trial court properly found that the conferences involved legal, procedural, or logistical matters, and, alternatively, Prickett acquiesced in counsel's waiver of his right to be present.
- Any error in the trial court's response to the prosecutor's reference to the redacted recording was harmless. It was not highly probable that the fleeting reference contributed to the verdict in light of the substantial evidence of guilt and the jury instructions that closing arguments were not evidence.
- The trial court erred by imposing life sentences on both felony-murder convictions arising from the death of a single victim and by improperly merging certain offenses. One felony-murder verdict was vacated by operation of law, and the trial court must determine on remand which felony-murder verdict is vacated and how the remaining offenses should be merged and sentenced.
Key quotations
“Such situations include bench conferences that deal with questions of law involving essentially legal argument about which the defendant presumably has no knowledge, or with procedural or logistical matters.” (15)
“And . . . the decision as to which of the felony murder verdicts should be deemed vacated—a decision that may affect which other verdicts merge and thus what other sentences may be imposed—is left to the discretion of the trial court on remand.” (26)
Factual background
Curry was killed after a physical altercation with Prickett at a Fulton County apartment complex on March 15, 2010. Witnesses testified that Prickett was involved in the altercation, was shot in the hand, and either shot Curry or struggled over the firearm before giving the gun to co-defendant Jaquavious Reed, who then shot Curry. The State also presented evidence that Prickett made inculpatory statements, fled the scene, avoided medical treatment, and directed others to kill Curry.
Procedural history
Prickett was jointly tried with Jaquavious Reed before a jury in May 2011 and was convicted of all charged offenses except malice murder. The trial court denied Prickett's amended motion for new trial in October 2021. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the rulings denying a new trial but identified sentencing errors, vacated the convictions and sentences, and remanded for resentencing.
Remand instructions
The case is remanded for resentencing. The trial court must determine which felony-murder verdict is vacated by operation of law, reconsider which other verdicts merge, correct the improper merger of Count 4 and Count 6, and impose lawful sentences.