Following the denial of an amended motion for new trial, George Smiley appeals his conviction for malice murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Samuel Williams. Smiley’s sole claim is that his trial counsel was ineffective. Finding the challenge to be without merit, we affirm.1 The evidence construed in favor of the verdict showed the following. Around 11:30 p. m. on September 1, 2006, Samuel Williams was found shot to death at an apartment complex in DeKalb county. Smiley had loaned a GMC Jimmy SUV that was owned by his mother and that he had been using, to his girlfriend, Sims. Sims was having problems with Williams, who was an ex-boyfriend and a former resident of the apartment complex. Earlier that day, Williams had smashed the windows on the Jimmy, and Sims told Smiley that Williams was the one that damaged the vehicle. Williams left the apartment complex; however, he returned between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with his girlfriend to retrieve belongings from his vacated apartment. When they arrived, a friend of Williams told him that “five dudes” were looking for him; the friend noticed that one of the men had a handgun. Williams walked around the apartment complex looking for the men. Shortly thereafter, Williams encountered Smiley, who confronted him about the broken SUV windows. Smiley fired three shots at the unarmed Williams, killing him. Williams sustained gunshot wounds to his forehead, his right hand, and to the back of his head. The forensic pathology indicated that Williams was shot as he raised his hand in an attempt to protect himself, a bullet grazed his forehead, and he was shot in the back of the head as he turned his head; the shooter was standing more than two or three feet away.
On September 7, 2006, police went to Smiley’s home to question him about the vandalism to the vehicle. Smiley voluntarily allowed the officers into the apartment and then agreed to go to police headquarters to give a statement. Smiley gave a four-page written statement in which he acknowledged that on the afternoon of the day of the murder, Sims told him that the victim had broken the vehicle’s windows, that he was angry about it, and that he had gone to the apartment complex around 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. and stayed for about 10 minutes; he stated that he then went to a barbecue at the home of his cousin, Kevin Williams, stayed there until about 1:45 a.m. and then went home. Immediately following this statement, the detective asked Smiley why he killed the victim, and Smiley denied that he had. But after the detective told Smiley his theory of what happened, Smiley admitted that he killed the victim, but claimed it was in self-defense. After Smiley was arrested and given his Miranda 2 rights, he made a second statement to the police in which he gave his version of the shooting, which included a physical altercation with the victim and Smiley’s claim that when he pulled the handgun from his waistband, “shots just fired off”;however, during the statement Smiley changed his story, inconsistently claiming that someone else had shot the victim and denying any involvement in the killing.
