Jeffrey v. State

Appellant Wisdom Jeffrey was convicted of murder and related crimes in connection with the August 2010 shooting death of his wife. Jeffrey appeals, arguing in his sole enumeration of error that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to request a jury instruction on the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter. Though we find no error in the verdicts, we do find error with respect to the trial court’s merger of some offenses, and we therefore must vacate and remand to the trial court for proper merger and resentencing.1

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdicts, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. Jeffrey’s wife, Corrissa Friends Jeffrey, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of August 11, 2010 in her Clayton County apartment. Jeffrey and the victim had begun dating in 2007, moved in together in 2008, and married in 2009, shortly after the victim gave birth to a daughter. The couple’s relationship was tumultuous, with both Jeffrey and the victim accusing each other of infidelity.