Poole v. State

The trial court was not required to make further inquiry of a juror the defendant challenged for cause after the defense indicated that it had no further questions.

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Appellant Tammy Poole was convicted of the April 2007 malice murder of her husband, Robert Michael Poole, possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony and while a convicted felon, simple battery/family violence, and making a false statement.1 After reviewing her contentions of ineffective assistance of counsel, improper jury instructions, and erroneous evidentiary rulings, we affirm the judgment of conviction.

The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on the body of Robert Michael Poole testified Poole died as a result of a “near-contact” gunshot wound to the left side of his forehead, just above his left eye. A firearms examiner from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation testified the bullet removed from the victim’s body during the autopsy was fired from the Remington 22 semi-automatic rifle that was found in the bedroom shared by appellant and the victim. Appellant told the first responders to the emergency call for assistance that the victim had shot himself accidentally. She later told authorities that the rifle had discharged when it caught on a broken laundry basket as the victim attempted to pick up the rifle and, later, that appellant had been shot while he and appellant struggled for possession of the rifle.2 She told some friends and neighbors that the victim had committed suicide and that she had not told the police that fact to avoid hurting his family members. The medical examiner opined that the fatal wound was more likely inflicted by another rather than self-inflicted given that the weapon used was a rifle and the location of the wound was not a common site for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gunshot-residue testing of both appellant and the victim were negative, with several experts explaining the results might be due to the fact that the primer of the ammunition used in the shooting did not contain antimony, one of three metals typically associated with gunshot residue.

Poole v. State

The trial court was not required to make further inquiry of a juror the defendant challenged for cause after the defense indicated that it had no further questions.

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