Higgins v. State

There was a reasonable probability that the trial's outcome would have differed, but for defense counsel's deficient performance, as some evidence showed that the encounter leading to the rape and aggravated sodomy charges against the defendant may have been consensual.

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Zachary Higgins appeals from his rape and aggravated sodomy convictions. He asserts that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that the trial court erred in its evidentiary rulings, its charge to the jury, and the sentence it imposed. We agree that Higgins received ineffective assistance of counsel, and we therefore reverse his conviction. 1. Higgins contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel failed to object to the State’s admission of the entire disposition order in a juvenile case to prove a similar transaction.1 To succeed on an ineffective assistance claim, a criminal defendant must demonstrate both that his trial counsel’s performance was deficient and that there is a reasonable probability that the trial result would have been different if not for the deficient performance. Strickland v. Washington , 466 U. S. 668, 687-688 III 104 SC 2052, 80 LE2d 674 1984; Miller v. State , 285 Ga. 285, 286-287 676 SE2d 173 2009.

The record shows that trial counsel failed to object to the State’s admission of the unredacted juvenile disposition order that the State used to prove a similar transaction despite having raised the need for redaction of the sentence in a pre-trial hearing and having obtained an agreement from the State to do so.2 After asking a police investigator to read the “findings of fact” contained in the disposition order, the State asked the investigator to read the following paragraph regarding “the need for protection of community”: “All children younger than Zachary with whom he may come into contact need to be protected from him. And he should not be allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children.” Trial counsel did not object to this question.

Higgins v. State

There was a reasonable probability that the trial's outcome would have differed, but for defense counsel's deficient performance, as some evidence showed that the encounter leading to the rape and aggravated sodomy charges against the defendant may have been consensual.

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