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Final Copy 288 Ga. 420 S10A1399. RENDER v. THE STATE. HINES, Justice. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Harold Lee Render appeals his convictions for felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in connection with the fatal shooting of Lamarcus Walker and the wounding of Edward Scott. Render's challenge is that his trial counsel provided him with ineffective assistance. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.1 The evidence construed in favor of the verdicts showed the following. Render had a history of employment in law enforcement, including working

The crimes occurred on April 30, 2007. During the July 2007 term, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Render for the malice murder of Walker, the felony murder of Walker while in the commission of aggravated assault, the aggravated assault of Walker, the aggravated assault of Scott, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Following a jury trial August 25, 2008-September 3, 2008, Render was acquitted of malice murder but was found guilty of the remaining charges. On September 4, 2008, he was sentenced to life in prison for felony murder, twenty years with ten years to serve in prison for the aggravated assault of Scott, and five years to serve in prison for the firearm possession; all sentences were to run consecutively. The aggravated assault of Walker merged with the felony murder for the purpose of sentencing. A motion for new trial was filed on October 2, 2008, amended on October 1, 2009, and denied on March 4, 2010. A notice of appeal was filed on March 31, 2010, the case was docketed in this Court for the September 2010 term, and the appeal was argued orally on September 13, 2010.

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as a police officer and as an armed security guard. Render's 26-year-old son was shot and killed in 2006. Within a few months after the shooting, the Render family began to suspect Lamarcus Walker as the perpetrator. Thereafter, Walker and his girlfriend, who was a Fulton County Deputy Sheriff, went to the Render home both to secure an address in order to obtain a protective order and to try to convince Render that Walker was not the man who killed his son. Neither Walker nor his girlfriend was armed. After Walker entered the home and attempted to talk to Render, Render pulled out a handgun and ordered Walker to be seated. Walker kept his hands raised in the air. Walker told Render that he did not injure or murder his son, and Render responded that he did not want to talk to anyone about it, that "all he wanted to do was find and kill whoever murdered his son." Render told the couple that the police were looking for Walker. Render telephoned a detective involved in the investigation of his son's murder and was told that there was no new information in the case and that Walker was not needed. Render then fired a shot into the air. Render let the couple leave after Walker's girlfriend agreed to take Walker to the jail for any possible questioning or other action.
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On April 30, 2007, Render encountered Walker at a convenience store in DeKalb County. Render and Walker exchanged words and Render drew a handgun and shot Walker multiple times. Walker tried to run from Render. Render fired more shots at Walker, and a stray bullet hit Edward Scott in the groin. Walker fell while he was running, and Render stood over him and again fired multiple shots into him. Walker died instantly. He had sustained gunshot wounds to his left upper arm, the right side of his face, and the back of his head. No weapons were found on Walker's body. 1. The evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Render guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). 2. Render contends that his trial counsel was ineffective in two respects. But, in order to prevail on his claims of ineffectiveness, Render has to demonstrate that trial counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficiency so prejudiced him that a reasonable probability exists that, but for counsel's errors, the outcome of Render's trial would have been different; in doing so he must overcome the strong presumption that his attorney's actions
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fell within the broad range of professional conduct. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984); Futch v. State, 286 Ga. 378, 380 (2) (687 SE2d 805) (2010). (a) Render contends that his trial counsel "egregiously erred" when counsel "made no attempt to introduce evidence that would have allowed the jury to understand the reasonable nature" of his fear of Walker. He urges that counsel was ineffective because he conceded the inadmissibility of evidence of Walker's prior acts of violence even though such evidence was "clearly admissible" and crucial to his sole defense of justification/self-defense. Render argues that there are "two prongs" or methods by which a defendant may have admitted into evidence prior acts of the victim against third parties. First, he cites this Court's holding in Chandler v. State, 261 Ga. 402 (405 SE2d 669) (1991), that evidence of specific acts of violence by a victim against third persons can be admitted into evidence in the situation in which a defendant claims justification. Id. at 407 (3) (b). The defendant has the burden of demonstrating the admissibility of Chandler evidence, and at a minimum must follow the procedural requirements for introducing the evidence, establish by competent evidence the existence of prior violent acts,
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and make a prima facie showing of justification. Spencer v. State, 287 Ga. 434, 436 (2) (a) (696 SE2d 617) (2010). In his initial brief, Render states unequivocally that Chandler has no application in his case, conceding that there was no competent evidence of specific violent acts by Walker against other parties for his trial counsel to present; however, he urges that his situation was governed instead by "longstanding, statutorily-based evidentiary law" relating to self-defense, namely permitting evidence of his motivation or state of mind at the time of the shooting, as permitted by OCGA

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