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Final Copy 291 Ga. 879 S12A1081. HARGROVE v. THE STATE.

THOMPSON, Presiding Justice. Appellant Bruce Wayne Hargrove was convicted of malice murder in connection with the shooting death of Antonio Jamel Jordan on January 7, 1999 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.1 His motion for new trial was denied, and he appeals. On appeal, appellant claims, inter alia, that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, that the State failed to prove venue, and that his due process rights were violated by the 12-year delay between his conviction and appeal. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the jury was authorized

The crime occurred on January 7, 1999. A Baldwin County grand jury returned an indictment charging appellant with malice murder for killing the victim by shooting him with a handgun in Baldwin County, Georgia. Trial commenced on September 7, 1999, and on September 10, 1999, a jury found appellant guilty. He was sentenced that same day to life imprisonment. Appellant filed a motion for new trial on October 4, 1999. A hearing was held on August 12, 2011 following the appointment of new counsel to represent appellant and the trial court's granting of appellant's motion for out-of-time review by amended order entered March 21, 2011. The trial court denied appellant's motion for new trial on November 17, 2011 and he filed a notice of appeal directed to the Court of Appeals on November 22, 2011. By order entered March 6, 2012, the case was transferred to this Court and docketed to the April 2012 term where it was submitted for decision on the briefs.

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to find that the victim, a confidential informant for the Putnam County Sheriff's Department, made a controlled buy of cocaine from appellant. As a result of the buy, appellant was arrested for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He was later charged with, and pled guilty to, a cocaine charge in federal court. Following his arrest, appellant told several witnesses that he knew the victim had "snitched" on him, that he "had something" for the snitch, and that he believed the only way he would not be convicted of the cocaine charge was if the victim did not show up for court. Appellant traveled to Milledgeville, Georgia, with his nephew and two others looking for the victim and told a witness that "the police ain't done nothing but kill that boy." Upon locating the victim, appellant purchased marijuana from him and drove off. Later that evening, appellant and two others picked up the victim, drove him to a remote location near some dumpsters, and fatally shot him multiple times in the head and abdomen. Early the next morning, the victim's body was discovered lying next to the dumpsters in Baldwin County, Georgia. Appellant, having made numerous incriminating comments regarding the victim, was arrested later that morning. Construing the evidence most strongly in support of the verdict, we
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conclude it was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). 2. Appellant, who was represented by two attorneys at trial, alleges his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. The standard for evaluating the constitutional effectiveness of counsel is set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668 (104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984). Judicial scrutiny must be "highly deferential" to the "strong presumption that counsel's conduct . . .`might be considered sound trial strategy.'" Id. at 689. "In evaluating a counselor's performance, courts must consider both whether counsel failed to meet the minimum standards of objective professional reasonableness, and whether such deficiencies on the part of counsel actually had a prejudicial effect on the defendant. [Cit.]" Simpson v. State, 289 Ga. 685, 688 (715 SE2d 142) (2011). Failure to satisfy either prong of the Strickland test is sufficient to defeat a claim of ineffective assistance, and it is not incumbent upon this Court to examine the other prong. Battles v. State, 290 Ga. 226, 229 (719 SE2d 423) (2011). (a) Appellant claims his trial counsel were ineffective for failing to move to have seven potential jurors struck for cause. "`When a defendant in a felony
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trial has to exhaust his peremptory strikes to excuse a juror who should have been excused for cause the error is harmful.' [Cit.]" Kirkland v. State, 274 Ga. 778, 779 (560 SE2d 6) (2002). Among the jurors appellant claims should have been excused for cause are two who admitted to following media coverage of the case and discussing it with others; one whose sister worked in the county solicitor's office; two with family members working at the county sheriff's office; one who worked as a secretary at the sheriff's office; and one who worked with a real estate company allegedly associated with the sheriff. Whether a prospective juror is subject to a challenge for cause is a matter which lies within the sound discretion of the trial court. Higginbotham v. State, 287 Ga. 187, 191 (695 SE2d 210) (2010). Moreover, "before a potential juror is so excused, it must be shown that the individual holds an opinion of the defendant's guilt or innocence that is so fixed and definite that the individual will not be able to set the opinion aside and decide the case based upon the evidence and the court's instructions." Id.; Stokes v. State, 281 Ga. 825, 827 (642 SE2d 82) (2007); Corza v. State, 273 Ga. 164, 166 (3) (539 SE2d 149) (2000) (determination of juror bias is based on
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findings of demeanor and credibility which are peculiarly in the trial court's province and are to be given deference). During voir dire, none of the seven prospective jurors at issue expressed a fixed and definite opinion as to the issue of appellant's guilt or indicated that they would be unable to decide the case based on the evidence and the court's instructions, and we find no bias sufficient to support their removal for cause. See Cade v. State, 289 Ga. 805, 808 (4) (716 SE2d 196) (2011). Nor does a prospective juror's familial relationship with a member of the law enforcement agency involved in the underlying criminal case disqualify a prospective juror per se. See Carr v. State, 267 Ga. 547, 553 (5) (480 SE2d 583) (1997) (trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to disqualify the mother of the county sheriff whose department had investigated defendant's case); Brantley v. State, 262 Ga. 786 (2) (e) (427 SE2d 758) (1993) (sheriff's wife not disqualified per se from serving as juror). As appellant has failed to show any of the prospective jurors would have been excused for cause subsequent to an appropriate motion, this ground lacks merit. Cade, supra (where effort to strike a juror would have been unsuccessful, attorney was not deficient for failing to make losing motion). (b) Appellant contends his trial counsel were ineffective for failing to
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object to testimony and exhibits regarding appellant's purchase and use of marijuana, as well as to comments by the prosecutor referring to appellant as a "kingpin" and "king of the strip," which improperly placed his character in issue. However, the record reflects that testimony about appellant's sale or use of marijuana was used as part of trial counsels' overall strategy to gain credibility for appellant by admitting his involvement with drugs and the drug culture while denying his involvement in the murder. Further, appellant's interaction with the victim just hours prior to the murder was relevant to show opportunity and motive, and any evidence surrounding appellant's purchase or use of drugs on that day was also relevant. See Grant v. State, 307 Ga. App. 681, 683 (705 SE2d 910) (2011). Trial counsels' decision not to object to the admission of this testimony in order to use the drug culture surrounding this case to appellant's advantage was clearly strategic. See Welbon v. State, 278 Ga. 312, 313 (602 SE2d 610) (2004); Rayshad v. State, 295 Ga. App. 29, 36 (670 SE2d 849) (2008). Nor were counsel ineffective for failing to object to the prosecutor's remarks in closing that appellant was a "kingpin" and "king of the strip," as there was an abundance of evidence presented that appellant was a drug dealer
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who conducted his business in a neighborhood known as "the strip." See Fann v. State, 254 Ga. 514, 518 (4) (331 SE2d 547) ( 1985) ("The range of discussion during closing argument is very wide; what is prohibited is the injection into the argument of extrinsic and prejudicial matters which have no basis in the evidence.") (Emphasis omitted.) Likewise, appellant's complaint that trial counsel were ineffective for failing to object to testimony about the "standup lineup" and for failing to file a motion in limine to exclude the lineup photo, is without merit. Counsel effectively demonstrated potential flaws associated with the lineup through cross-examination and, as appellant has failed to make a strong showing that such an objection or motion would have been successful, he has not shown prejudice. See Williams v. State, 290 Ga. 533, 535 (722 SE2d 847) (2012). (c) Appellant further asserts that trial counsel failed to adequately crossexamine crucial witnesses and that this failure equated to a substantial denial of his constitutional right to cross-examine the witnesses. Vogleson v. State, 250 Ga. App. 555, 558 (552 SE2d 513) (2001) (exposure of a witness' motivation in testifying is an important function of the constitutionally protected right of cross-examination). This claim is unsupported by the record which shows that
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counsel cross-examined witnesses with questions designed to solicit answers regarding potential "deals" or other motivations for providing favorable testimony for the State. (d) Finally, appellant argues that counsel should have attempted to prevent the admission of his in-custody statements regarding his whereabouts on the night in question as there is no evidence of a Miranda waiver signed by him. However, the record reflects that trial counsel made a strategic decision not to challenge the admissibility of appellant's statement. During opening statement, counsel informed the jury that evidence would show that appellant did not "clam up" when arrested; that appellant's statement would explain his whereabouts on the night in question and show he could not have killed the victim; and that the statement served as corroboration of appellant's alibi defense. Further, there is no evidence showing appellant's statement was involuntarily made or would have been suppressed if a Jackson-Denno hearing had been conducted. See Morris v. State, 278 Ga. 710, 711-712 (606 SE2d 258) (2004). Accordingly, appellant cannot sustain his burden of proving ineffective assistance on this ground. 3. Appellant claims the prosecutor made an inflammatory and improper
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speaking objection when he stated in the presence of the jury, "[w]e've already had one snitch killed." He asserts error in the trial court's failure to take corrective action pursuant to OCGA

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