Haskell Johnson appeals from his conviction for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Johnson asserts that the trial court erred by denying his motion for new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel and prosecutorial misconduct and by failing to exclude expert opinion testimony that lacked an adequate foundation. Because we find Johnson received ineffective assistance of counsel that prejudiced his defense, we reverse and remand this case for a new trial. 1. Johnson claims his counsel provided ineffective assistance after the State elicited testimony about an oral admission made by Johnson, while he was in custody, that it had not previously disclosed to the defense in violation of OCGA § 17-16-4 a 1.1 The record shows that a police officer testified that Johnson admitted that “the drugs were his” while he was being booked into jail. The way in which the prosecutor framed his direct examination questions to the police officer demonstrates that the prosecutor had advance knowledge of the undisclosed statement. Q. Now spontaneously, and not in response to any inquiry you made of him, did Mr. Johnson say anything in connection with the cocaine in this case to you A. Spontaneously —when I was asking him the questions for the committal, he did make a spontaneous —without me asking him questions, yes sir. Q. In terms of the cocaine in question, what did he say A. The drugs were his, but he didn’t know anything about any other possible suspicion of anything else. Although Johnson’s trial counsel did not object to this testimony or move for a mistrial, he did establish during cross-examination that the police officer failed to include this admission in his written report and that the officer did not recall mentioning this admission during his preliminary hearing testimony.
After acknowledging these omissions, the police officer volunteered, “I did share it with the District Attorney when he first approached me concerning this matter. It was made known to him back a long time ago.” The police officer also acknowledged that he did not know whether defense counsel had been informed about the existence of this statement.
