Willie Berry and Joseph Wright were tried jointly, and each was found guilty of aggravated assault for shooting one victim, aggravated assault for shooting at a second victim, aggravated battery regarding the first victim, armed robbery of both victims, and kidnapping of both victims. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Berry appeals.1 He contends the trial court erred by refusing to strike a juror for cause and that his trial counsel was ineffective. As set forth in the co-defendant’s appeal, the facts show that Gary Warner age 16 and his friend Na’el Jones were robbed by two armed men. On May 16, 2000, Warner and Jones were walking together to catch a bus when two men got out of a black, four-door Chevy and approached them. The men pulled out guns, put them in the boys’ sides, and told the boys “to give it up.” One man put his arm around Warner and the other put his arm around Jones, and they told the boys to walk to the car, which was about 10 feet away, and forced the boys into the back seat. Before entering the car, Warner gave one of the men his wallet, which held about $25 and a season pass to an amusement park. The men then got in the front seats, turned around to face the boys, pointed the guns at the boys, and again told them to “give it up.” Jones described the guns as black .380 caliber weapons. Warner gave them his blue Nokia 5190 cell phone with a clear antenna. Jones turned over $2. The man in the passenger seat then said “you got two seconds to get out.” The boys got out and ran. When Warner reached a nearby tree, he turned to look back and saw the man in the passenger seat pointing a gun at him. The man shot and Warner was hit in the side. Warner was taken to Grady Hospital, and the very next day, Jones visited Warner there. As Jones left, he walked past two men who he recognized as the robbers. He recognized their faces, and he also noticed that one of the men was dialing a cell phone that looked exactly like Warner’s. Jones ran to a nearby Grady security officer and explained, and the two men were detained at Grady for the police. Jones was shown the men, and he identified them as the people he saw with the cell phone. Atlanta police officers arrived and took the two men to City Hall East. They then searched the area around Grady Hospital for a black Chevy Malibu and found one about two blocks away. The two men detained were Wright and Willie Berry. A car key found in Berry’s pocket matched the Chevy Malibu. Two .380 handguns were found in the car, one under each front seat. Each defendant’s palm prints were on the car. The police recovered the cell phone from the defendants, which was a Nokia phone with a blue faceplate and it matched the description given by Jones. Twelve days after the shooting, Warner was presented with two photographic lineups from which he identified Wright and Berry as the robbers. Jones identified Berry in court as the shooter. Warner identified Wright in court as the man who took his wallet and Berry as the person who was sitting in the passenger seat and who shot him. 1. Berry contends the trial court should have struck for cause a juror who had an ongoing business relationship with the district attorney’s office and who also was a friend of the district attorney. “The decision to strike a juror for cause lies within the sound discretion of the trial court.” Citation omitted. Garland v. State , 263 Ga. 495, 496 1 435 SE2d 431 1993.
During the voir dire, the juror stated that she knew District Attorney Paul Howard as a “friend and a client.” She was not further questioned about the nature of her friendship. With regard to the business relationship, she explained that she was a computer consultant and that she had recently advised the district attorney’s office regarding a case management system used to keep track of events in criminal cases. In the course of her work, she dealt personally with employees of the district attorney’s office. She had completed one phase of her consulting arrangement and hoped that the second phase would be funded. Nevertheless, she stated that she could be fair and could judge the case on the merits. Wright and Berry moved to strike the juror for cause, but the court denied the motion.2
