Following a jury trial, Alfonso Ellis was convicted on two counts of child molestation1 and one count of aggravated sexual battery.2 He appeals his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance and that the State withheld exculpatory evidence in violation of both his due process rights under Brady v. Maryland 3 and Georgia’s reciprocal discovery act.4 For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, Davis v. State ,5 the record shows that in May 2002, nine-year-old Ch. B.’s third-grade teacher brought a visibly upset Ch. B. to the school counselor’s office and informed the counselor that Ch. B. needed to speak with her. After a private place to talk was found, Ch. B. told the counselor that Ellis, her mother’s boyfriend, had been touching her privates with his hand, had put his finger inside her privates, and had tried to put his privates into her privates. Based on this information, the counselor immediately had Ch. B.’s eight-year-old sister C. B. brought in to speak with her. During that meeting, C. B. told the counselor that Ellis had been touching her privates also. A medical examination conducted a few weeks later indicated that both girls exhibited physical signs consistent with sexual abuse.
Ellis was indicted on one count each of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, and rape of Ch. B. and was indicted on two counts of child molestation of C. B. At trial, both Ch. B. and C. B. testified that Ellis had sexually abused them. The school counselor testified regarding the day that both girls made their initial outcry to her, and the nurse practitioner who examined the girls testified as to her medical findings. In addition, the State also proffered the testimony of 13-year-old T. F. as similar transaction evidence. T. F. testified that, when she was ten-years-old, Ellis was her foster mother’s boyfriend and that he had sexually abused her by putting his privates into her privates. At the close of the State’s evidence, the trial court directed a verdict on one of the counts of child molestation as to C. B. The jury found Ellis guilty on one count of child molestation of Ch. B., one count of aggravated sexual battery of Ch. B., and one count of child molestation of C. B. but was unable to reach a verdict on the count alleging rape of Ch. B.
