Rodney Bernard Paul was convicted of aggravated assault and was sentenced to twenty years, sixteen in confinement and four on probation. On appeal from the denial of his motion for new trial, Paul contends that the trial court erred by excusing a prospective juror for cause, by failing to charge the jury on lesser included offenses, and by denying his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. We disagree and affirm. 1. Paul argues that the trial court abused its discretion by excusing for cause a prospective juror who attended school with him. Paul has waived this asserted error by failing to object at trial. The record shows that during voir dire, the prospective juror stated that Paul was a friend of hers and that she had known him for a long time. The court inquired whether she could set aside the friendship and render a fair and impartial verdict based on the evidence and the law. The prospective juror replied, “I don’t know,” and the judge excused her for cause. On appeal, Paul argues that, although the trial court retains discretion to excuse a juror for cause, here the court erred because it did not establish “that the juror’s opinion was so fixed and definite that it would not be changed by the evidence or the charge of the court upon the evidence.”1 Defense counsel did not object to the dismissal of the juror, however, and has thus waived the issue on appeal.2 In any event, “a trial judge should err on the side of caution by dismissing, rather than trying to rehabilitate, biased jurors.”3 2. Paul next complains that the trial court erred by failing to charge the jury on the lesser included offenses of pointing a pistol at another, simple assault, and reckless conduct. Paul is correct that, where even the slightest evidence shows that the defendant may be guilty of a lesser included offense, then a requested charge on that offense must be given.4 But this rule “does not obviate the necessity that the evidence actually warrant the requested charge.”5 In the case at bar, there was no evidence supporting the requested charges on lesser crimes. Paul was charged with aggravated assault with intent to murder by shooting Hoskins in the face and arm with a deadly weapon, a hand gun. He asserted an “all or nothing” defense at trial. During opening statement, defense counsel asserted that although Paul and the victim were at the same club on the same night, Paul stayed in the parking lot and fled when he heard shots fired. The victim, James Otis Hoskins, testified that he had seen Paul earlier in the evening at a pool hall, and Paul made a strange comment to him. Later, around 12:30 a.m., Hoskins drove to the club and tried to park in the parking lot, but Paul’s car was blocking the alley that led to the lot. Paul got out of the car and walked to Hoskins’s car. Hoskins asked Paul to move his car. Paul said yes, but did not move his car far enough for Hoskins to park in the lot. Paul walked back to Hoskins, who was still sitting behind the wheel, and asked whether Hoskins was following him or had a problem with him. Hoskins said he did not. At that point, Paul put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a gun, and shot Hoskins twice, once in the face and once in the arm.
Paul’s cousin, Jerrish Bash, was in the car with Paul in the alley that night. Bash testified that he saw Paul walking toward Hoskins with the gun; that Paul said something to Hoskins, and “the next thing I knew, he reached in and shot the man.” According to Bash, Paul ran back to the car, told Bash to get in, and started following Hoskins, who drove himself to the hospital. Bash told Paul to leave Hoskins alone, and they parked the car in a relative’s back yard.
