Following the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, Larry Patrick McKiernan appeals, contending that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. The predicate facts developed at McKiernan’s guilty plea hearing show that, following a domestic squabble, McKiernan shot his wife in the back of the head with a Glock handgun. McKiernan then wrapped his wife’s body in tarp and disposed of it in the woods. Later, when questioned by police, McKiernan claimed that his wife had committed suicide and that he had disposed of her body according to her wishes in a place that was special to her. Once the body was examined, however, it became clear that the gunshot could not have been self-inflicted. Upon further questioning, McKiernan next lied that a burglar might have committed the crime. Later, he changed his story again and admitted that he shot his wife; however, he maintained that the gun had gone off by accident during a fight with his wife, who was attempting to hit him in the head with an ashtray at the time. McKiernan was then arrested and ultimately indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. On January 31, 2007, McKiernan pled guilty to the felony murder of his wife. McKiernan subsequently filed a motion to withdraw this plea by writing a letter to the trial court on February 27, 2007, and the motion was denied on May 18, 2010.1 This appeal followed.
1. McKiernan claims that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to adequately research McKiernan’s mental health history prior to allowing him to enter a guilty plea. A defendant who pleads guilty and seeks to overturn his conviction because of counsel’s errors must show both that counsel’s performance was deficient and that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. Citations and punctuation omitted. Jackson v. State , 285 Ga. 840, 841 2 684 SE2d 594 2009.
