Following a bench trial, the Superior Court of Toombs County convicted Kenneth Jacobs of six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in violation of OCGA § 16-5-21 a 2. He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, contending that the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that he voluntarily and knowingly waived his right to a jury trial and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no error, we affirm. Viewed in favor of the court’s judgment,1 the evidence showed the following relevant facts. On January 2, 2007, Ola Mae McClain, her two adult daughters, Jessica and Jerrica, and her three small grandchildren went to the Vidalia Police Department and reported that Jerrica’s former boyfriend, Kenneth Jacobs, had just shot at them with a handgun. According to Jessica, shortly before the shooting, all six victims had been in her car as she drove down Highway 292 toward her mother’s house on Fifth Avenue in Vidalia. While driving, Jessica noticed that a silver Grand Am was following closely behind them. Jerrica looked back at the car and said that the driver was “Kenny.” Jessica stopped at a stop sign at the intersection of Symonds and Fifth Avenue, and Jacobs stopped behind them, got out of his car, and started shooting at them. The women fled in the car and went directly to the nearby police station; they reported the assault within a few minutes after it occurred. Jessica described herself as very scared and “shaking like a leaf”; she said that everyone was screaming and crying and that Jerrica kept saying, “I can’t believe he just shot at us.” According to the officers, when the women arrived at the station, they were very emotional and hysterical, but none of the victims were injured. Ms. McClain and Jessica executed written statements in which they described the incident and identified Jacobs as the shooter. The State arrested Jacobs and charged him with six counts of aggravated assault with a handgun.
At Jacobs’ trial, in addition to presenting the evidence above, the State showed that, a few minutes before the shooting incident at issue here, Jessica had driven to Jacobs’ house with her mother, Jerrica, and the three children so that Jerrica could get a house key from Jacobs. Jerrica went inside the house and discovered that, although Jacobs was not at home, another woman was there. Jerrica started fighting with the woman. After waiting a few minutes for Jerrica to return to the car, Jessica went into the house to get her, found the women fighting on the floor, and pulled Jerrica outside. Jerrica then started kicking a car that was parked behind the house, breaking the car’s taillights, and she tried to break the back window with a brick.2 Jerrica left Jacobs’ house with the rest of the family members in Jessica’s car, and they drove down Highway 292 toward Fifth Avenue.
