Martin v. State

Trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object to prior difficulty evidence that a few months earlier, while his girlfriend was pregnant, the defendant pushed her several times during an argument.

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Samuel Martin, Jr. was indicted by accusation on one count of battery and one count of assault. A jury found him guilty of battery, and not guilty of assault. He appeals from the conviction entered on the verdict, claiming that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of an incident of prior difficulty involving the victim, failing to charge the jury on self-defense and mutual combat, and finding that he did not receive ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The arguments are without merit, so we affirm the conviction. Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, it shows that one evening Martin and his girlfriend argued at their home for several hours. Martin testified that a friend of his girlfriend kept telephoning the house to check on her. At one point, Martin retrieved a gun and struck his girlfriend on the side of the head while she was holding the couple’s infant. The victim’s friend was still on the phone and overheard her ask Martin “why did you hit me with that gun” The friend asked, “he hit you with a gun” The victim replied that he had. The friend ended the call and immediately telephoned police. Police arrived at the home and arrested Martin. At trial, Martin denied hitting the victim and stated that she hit him with a glass candlestick.

1. Martin contends the trial court erred in allowing the victim to testify that a few months earlier, while she was pregnant, Martin pushed her several times during an argument. According to Martin, evidence of the prior difficulty was inadmissible because the prior offense was not connected to the charged crimes, was prejudicial, and placed his character at issue. However, because Martin did not object at trial to the testimony, the argument has not been preserved for review on appeal.1

Martin v. State

Trial counsel was not deficient for failing to object to prior difficulty evidence that a few months earlier, while his girlfriend was pregnant, the defendant pushed her several times during an argument.

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