Mangrum v. State

The defendant failed to offer more than mere speculation that the victim's medical records and expert testimony would have bolstered a defense that the victim's death could have resulted from a seizure caused by her prescription medications.

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This is the second appearance of this case before this Court. In December 2005, Appellant Jamerson Mangrum was found guilty of numerous crimes related to the death of 15-year-old Katie Hamlin in July 2002, including three counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated child molestation, and one count each of rape, abandoning a dead body, concealing a death, and tampering with evidence. After his motion for new trial was denied, Appellant obtained new counsel and appealed to this Court, alleging numerous grounds for reversal. In Mangrum v. State, 285 Ga. 676 681 SE2d 130 2009, we rejected all of his arguments except for his claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, which we remanded to the trial court for a hearing. See id. at 683.

On March 23, 2011, the trial court held a hearing on the ineffective assistance claim. The only witness at the hearing was Appellant’s trial counsel, Jimmy Berry. At trial, the State’s theory was that the victim died from compressive asphyxiation while being forcibly restrained during a sexual assault. Appellant’s principal defense was alibi. However, through cross-examination, Berry also tried to suggest that the cause of death could have been a seizure caused by medications prescribed for the victim, including Risperdal, an anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia.1 At the hearing, Appellant’s new counsel attempted to show that Berry unreasonably failed to support his theory that the victim’s medications caused her to have a seizure and asphyxiate and to investigate the possibility that her failure to take her medications caused her death. However, new counsel did not offer any of the victim’s medical records or present any expert medical testimony at the hearing. On April 18, 2011, the trial court denied Appellant’s ineffective assistance claim. He appeals that ruling.2

Mangrum v. State

The defendant failed to offer more than mere speculation that the victim's medical records and expert testimony would have bolstered a defense that the victim's death could have resulted from a seizure caused by her prescription medications.

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