Stephen LaBrellie Rucker filed this appeal from his conviction for the aggravated assault and felony murder of Jeremy Kidd.1 Rucker asserts the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for mistrial on the ground that the prosecutor improperly inserted his character into evidence and also erred in refusing to permit his trial counsel to impeach a prosecution witness with proof of a pending indictment against him to show the witness’s bias. Rucker also requests that the case be remanded to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of alleged ineffective assistance of trial counsel. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court.
Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows the victim died as a result of stab wounds sustained in a fight that occurred on the front porch of Rucker’s sister’s apartment. Several people were at the apartment at the time of the fight and a significant amount of alcohol had been consumed over the course of the evening, although there was testimony that Rucker was not among those who were drinking. Rucker and the victim engaged in a physical struggle as a result of angry words. No witness testified that he or she saw who inflicted the wounds, though Rucker told his then-girlfriend he did it. Further, Rucker exclaimed to his girlfriend as he ordered her to get into her car and drive them away from the scene of the crime, “I done threw my life away.” Both Rucker and another individual present at the time of the fight, Carlos Gray, were known to have had one or more knives in their possession at some point in the evening. Thus, Rucker’s theory of defense was that it was not he but Gray who committed the crimes. Rucker testified at trial and admitted, however, that he owned the knife recovered from the bushes near the apartment on which the victim’s blood was found, but he denied having the knife in his possession outside the apartment on the night in question. Gray testified he attempted to break up the fight, at which point a knife fell into his hands which he then dropped. Rucker exclaimed “Where’s the knife Where’s the knife” Rucker then grabbed the knife and ran around the side of the apartment.
