Vivian v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseNathaniel Vivian appealed his convictions for felony murder and related crimes in connection with the 2014 shooting death of Daniel Zeitz. Vivian contended on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to advise him of his right to represent himself at trial, and claimed he received ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s failure to: (1) object to the introduction of his and his co- defendant’s cell phones as exhibits at trial; (2) object to an alleged non-unanimous verdict on the charge of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony; (3) challenge the grand and petit jury composition; and (4) request a jury instruction on mere association. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded there was no merit to these arguments, but because the trial court erred in sentencing Vivian on two separate counts of felony murder, those convictions were vacated and the case remanded to the trial court for resentencing.
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