Scott v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseAppellant Diontye Scott was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Antonio Veal. On appeal, Scott contended his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to: (1) request an instruction limiting the jury’s consideration of the stipulations to Scott’s prior felony convictions as proof of his status as a convicted felon; (2) request an instruction limiting the jury’s consideration of Scott’s prior felony convictions to only impeachment; and (3) object to the State’s closing argument, which allegedly misstated the burden of proof. He also argued (4) these errors, taken together, deprived him of a fair trial. The Georgia Supreme Court concluded Scott’s ineffective-assistance claims had no merit. "Even assuming that his counsel erred by failing to object to the State’s closing argument, Scott failed to show more than one error, so we need not assess any cumulative prejudice. So we affirm his convictions."
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