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Following a jury trial, Stavinci Ellis appeals his convictions for statutory rape and aggravated child molestation. His sole enumeration of error claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel elicited testimony from a State’s witness that Ellis refused to take a polygraph examination. Because evidence supported the trial court’s finding that this was a reasonable trial tactic, we affirm. Construed in favor of the verdict, Short v. State ,1 the evidence shows that over a period of several months, Ellis repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse with the 13-year-old niece of his live-in girlfriend and further performed oral sex on her. The victim told medical and social authorities about these events, and a medical exam corroborated her claims of vaginal intercourse.

Ellis was indicted for statutory rape, sodomy later nol prossed by the State , and aggravated child molestation. A jury found him guilty on the statutory rape and aggravated child molestation charges, resulting in a 30-year sentence. Ellis moved for a new trial, arguing that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel when he elicited testimony from a State’s witness that Ellis had initially agreed to take a polygraph examination but then later refused. Following an evidentiary hearing on the matter, the court denied the motion, finding that trial counsel had elicited the testimony as a trial strategy to dissuade the jury that counsel was hiding evidence from the jury. This appeal followed.

 
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