This case arises out of allegations that Charles Anthony Carmichael beat his pregnant girlfriend during a dispute over money, resulting in severe injuries to the girlfriend and the death of the unborn child. A jury found Carmichael guilty of aggravated assault and feticide, and the trial court denied his motion for a new trial. On appeal, Carmichael contends that the trial court erred in not merging his two convictions and in finding that he received effective assistance from his trial counsel. We disagree and affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. Rouse v. State , 290 Ga. App. 740 660 SE2d 476 2008. So viewed, the evidence showed that Carmichael lived with his girlfriend and her three children in a single family residence in Coweta County. In the early morning hours of January 14, 2006, Carmichael returned home after drinking and began looking for some cash that he believed was in the house. Unable to find the cash, Carmichael became increasingly agitated, pulled his girlfriend out of bed, and ordered her to help him look for the cash. Carmichael’s girlfriend was 36 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, 4 weeks from her expected due date.
When neither he nor his pregnant girlfriend could locate the cash, Carmichael began throwing objects around the house “in a rampage,” accused his girlfriend of stealing the cash, and physically attacked her. Carmichael struck his girlfriend several times in the head with his fist, repeatedly kneed her in the abdomen, pulled out sections of her hair, and dragged her around the house. Carmichael also struck his girlfriend multiple times with an iron, causing the iron to break. Threatening to kill her, Carmichael kicked his girlfriend until she fell to the ground and beat her with the metal top of a charcoal grill that he retrieved from the back patio.
