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Smith v. State

Trial counsel's failure to object to the evidence of an accomplice's guilty plea was a matter of tactics and strategy.

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A jury found Akeem Smith guilty of four counts of aggravated assault with a handgun and three counts of robbery by intimidation. The trial court entered judgments of conviction, imposed concurrent 20-year sentences for the robberies and one of the aggravated assault counts, and merged the remaining counts into the robberies. After the denial of a motion for new trial, Smith appeals. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that Smith and two accomplices were in Smith’s car when they stopped and approached four men. Smith and his accomplices pointed a gun at the men, demanded their money and began searching their wallets and pockets. As the incident was taking place, a police officer passing by in his patrol car stopped and called for backup officers. Smith fled on foot, but his accomplices were arrested at the scene. Smith was apprehended a short time later on a nearby street.1 The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Smith guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted.2

2. Smith contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of co-indictee Theron Poe’s guilty plea and in allowing the state to make an improper closing argument based on the plea. However, as Smith acknowledges in his brief, he did not raise such objections at trial. Accordingly, he failed to preserve either issue for appellate review.3 Moreover, “in Smith’s own closing, his attorney also referenced Poe’s guilty plea, arguing that it and Poe’s failure to testify should be viewed to exonerate Smith. Such acquiescence cannot serve as grounds for reversal. Cit.”4

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