Following a jury trial,1 Irvin S. Viers was convicted of aggravated sexual battery2 and cruelty to a child.3 Viers appeals pro se, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support the aggravated sexual battery conviction and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm, for reasons that follow. On appeal from a criminal conviction, the defendant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence. This Court does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determines whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, is sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia. 4 We uphold the verdict if any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.5 So viewed, the evidence shows that on May 9, 2001, Viers and his wife, Terena, brought their two-and-a-half year old daughter, Heather, to the emergency room at the Habersham County Medical Center. Viers was carrying the child, who was wrapped in a blanket. When Wendy Blackwell, the treating nurse, asked Viers what had happened to Heather, he told her that the child “had fallen down some steps” approximately half an hour before and that “she had no broken bones, but she was bleeding from her vaginal area.” Heather was naked under the blanket with a white bath towel between her legs. She had grass and twigs in her perineal and groin area, but none in her hair, which was wet. Blackwell observed multiple bruises and marks on Heather’s abdomen, upper arms, upper torso, and upper thighs, some of which appeared to be old and healing, while others were fresh; Blackwell noted that some of the bruises were in the shape of a hand print. There were no bruises or marks on Heather’s face, arms, lower legs, or shoulders. Blackwell also observed a five to six centimeter laceration on Heather’s perineal area that was bleeding, along with multiple smaller lacerations to the right of her vaginal area and multiple small lacerations on her mid-chest area extending to her upper thighs. While at the hospital, in addition to his initial claim that Heather fell down some steps, Viers also told Blackwell that she fell out of a window and that a dog had her groin in his mouth when he and Terena found the child. Terena told Blackwell that Heather had rolled down a hill. The police tested Heather’s car seat and found traces of blood, which matched Heather’s DNA. They also found blood in the bathroom of the house where Heather was injured. The diaper that Heather was wearing immediately before she went to the hospital had holes in it and was dirty and ripped. Heather’s clothes, which the Viers turned in to the hospital, were wet and the pants had holes in them in the bottom; the clothing did not test positive for blood, however.
The authorities interviewed Terena, who gave a statement indicating that she found Heather outside, quiet, naked, and bleeding, and that a dog was licking the toddler between her legs. Terena stated that Heather rode to the hospital in Viers’s lap instead of in her car seat. According to Terena, Viers washed the car seat while Heather was being treated at the hospital. Terena also admitted to the police that she struck Heather with her hand and a hickory switch because she was angry with her.
