Williams v. State

A jury convicted Adam James Williams of two counts of felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer OCGA § 16-10-24 b. Williams appeals, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and contending that the trial court erred in i denying his motion for a directed verdict, ii punishing him as a recidivist, and iii refusing to charge the jury on the lesser included offense of misdemeanor obstruction and on self-defense. By a final claim of error, Williams claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Discerning no trial court error and given that Williams was not afforded an opportunity to challenge the effectiveness of trial counsel, we affirm and remand. “When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict; Williams no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence; and we will determine the sufficiency of the evidence, but not its weight. Also, we do not judge the credibility of the witnesses.” Citation and punctuation omitted. Williams v. State , 260 Ga. App. 286 581 SE2d 313 2003.

So viewed, the evidence shows that on September 28, 2008, Williams was incarcerated in the Lowndes County Jail. When being fed the evening meal, Williams took two food trays claiming that he had not received his sandwich at the time lunch was served. Officer R.T. Holmes told Williams that prison rules limited him to a single meal because taking a second tray would deny another inmate a meal. Officer Holmes ordered Williams to put one tray back and twice attempted to take one of the food trays back from him, and after numerous failed attempts to gain Williams’ compliance, Officer Holmes asked Williams to step aside, intending to contact his supervisor on the issue. Williams again refused to cooperate and instead began eating from one of the food trays he held. When Williams reached for food on the second tray, Officer Holmes knocked the food trays to the floor. Williams responded, hitting Holmes in the chin. As Williams attempted to hit him a second time, Officer Holmes caught Williams by the collar and a hand-to-hand struggle ensued.