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Lawsonv.State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S14A0804, S14A0805
DecidedOctober 20, 2014
Reporter296 Ga. 1; 764 S.E.2d 816; 2014 WL 5313932
JudgesSupreme Court of Georgia; Justice Benham authored the opinion; all Justices concurred
Tags
CriminalCriminal ProcedureMurder & MayhemEvidenceIneffective Assistance of CounselDue ProcessSufficiency of the EvidenceMotion for New TrialTales From the Crypt
Case Summary

Herman Lawson and Christopher James were convicted in separate trials for the 2005 murders of Jeremiah Ingram and Fatima Fisher. After the Georgia Supreme Court reversed orders granting them new trials, the trial court reinstated their sentences and denied the remaining new-trial claims. The defendants argued that the State’s principal witness gave materially inconsistent testimony across the trials, that incomplete medical-examiner summaries impaired their defense, and that counsel was ineffective for failing to obtain the missing pages and call another witness. The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the evidence was sufficient because the witness consistently identified Lawson as the shooter and James as the person who urged the shootings. The missing information about the victims’ condition did not materially conflict with the medical examiner’s testimony or establish prejudice under Strickland. Counsel’s decision not to call the additional witness was also reasonable trial strategy, and the alleged variations in testimony were ordinary differences in detail rather than constitutionally contradictory theories. The Court affirmed both judgments, with all Justices concurring.

Opinion

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