Kevin Todd Hampton was convicted of two counts of malice murder, one count of armed robbery, one count of possession of a silencer, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the deaths of Tommy Anderson and David Shumake. This Court affirmed the convictions, but remanded the case to the trial court for a hearing and determination on Hampton’s claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Hampton v. State , 272 Ga. 284, 288 10 527 SE2d 872 2000. The trial court denied the claim of ineffectiveness, and Hampton, pro se, appeals. For the reasons which follow, we affirm. The facts of the crimes are set forth in the prior appeal. Hampton v. State at 284-285. On January 23, 1996, Anderson’s and Shumake’s bodies were found in a common grave on Mike Haywood’s property; Anderson and Shumake had been missing for about a month. On the evening of December 17, 1995, Hampton’s roommate, Michelle Keiffer, saw Hampton drive his car into their driveway and remove something from his trunk. A truck also pulled into the driveway. Shortly thereafter, Keiffer heard gunshots, and Hampton later woke her, told her to keep a lookout while he was in the house, and remarked that “when you shoot something in the head that they do flop like a fish.” He instructed her to follow him while he drove “Tommy’s” truck to Haywood’s property. Hampton put a handgun and either a rifle or shotgun in a garage on the property. Hampton told Keiffer to get her boyfriend, Lawrence Graves, and tell him “they had a package to get rid of.” Keiffer returned to her house, found Graves, and told him Hampton wanted him at Haywood’s. Hampton admitted to Graves that he had murdered Anderson. They moved Anderson’s body to the bed of a pickup truck and covered it with a tarp. They then went to Anderson’s motel room and searched it. The next day, Hampton and Graves put Anderson’s body in a shallow grave on Haywood’s property, poured gasoline on it, burned it for approximately 20-30 minutes, and covered it. On the evening of December 23, 1995, Hampton and Graves were at Haywood’s home with several others. Hampton spoke with Shumake and Haywood in Haywood’s bedroom; Hampton had previously told Graves that he wanted to kill Shumake. Hampton asked Haywood where Haywood’s pistol was; Hampton had made a silencer for the weapon. Hampton demonstrated the silencer’s effectiveness to Shumake by firing the pistol into a telephone book. Hampton then shot Shumake while Haywood was looking in another direction. Hampton turned to Haywood, who was confined to a wheelchair, and asked: “Everything okay Got a problem” Haywood said no. Hampton and Graves put Shumake’s body into a long, metal box. The next day, Graves covered the body with lime and, using a backhoe, Hampton and Graves buried the box with the body inside in Anderson’s grave. Later, Keiffer told Hampton that she thought Graves was scared, and Hampton said that he was not sure that he could trust them. Before he was arrested, Hampton told Keiffer that it was not her fault or Graves’s fault, and that the police would be looking for him because he was “the one that shot them.”Both bodies were badly decomposed when recovered. Anderson’s remains showed skeletal fractures that occurred after death and clotted blood in the larynx and throat, indicating traumatic injury to the neck, which could have been caused by a bullet; no bullet was found in Anderson’s body and the skull did not appear to have been penetrated before death. A .22 caliber bullet fired from Haywood’s pistol was found inside Shumake’s cranial cavity. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance, appellant “must show that counsel’s performance was deficient and that the deficient performance so prejudiced the client that there is a reasonable likelihood that, but for counsel’s errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Cits.” Cit. Appellant “must overcome the strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the broad range of reasonable professional conduct.” Cit. In reviewing a lower court’s determination of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, an appellate court gives deference to the lower court’s factual findings, which are upheld unless clearly erroneous; the lower court’s legal conclusions are reviewed de novo. Cit. Sweet v. State , 278 Ga.320, 321-322 602 SE2d 603 2004, quoting Bales v. State , 277 Ga. 713, 7152 594 SE2d 644 2004. Here, the trial court found that Hampton failed to present evidence to carry his burden of showing that trial counsel’s performance was deficient and that any such deficiency would have altered the outcome at trial. In fact, the trial court concluded that trial counsel provided Hampton with “superior representation and superior assistance.”
1. Hampton contends that trial counsel was ineffective “by failing to perfect the record,” i.e., that voir dire, opening statements, closing arguments, sidebar conferences, and certain objections and rulings were unreported, thereby foreclosing appellate review. But Hampton also states that because of evidence adduced at the hearing on his ineffectiveness claim, it now appears to him that “trial counsel requested a full and complete recordation of the trial.” Therefore, Hampton’s own statement belies the asserted deficiency of trial counsel.
