On December 18, 1998, Stanley Heyward entered negotiated pleas of guilty to charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault, criminal trespass, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and he was sentenced to a total of 30 years, 15 to be served on probation. On July 3, 2002, Heyward filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the validity of the pleas on the ground, inter alia, that his trial counsel was ineffective. The habeas court rejected the claim and denied relief. We granted Heyward’s pro se application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal the denial of his petition for writ of habeas corpus to determine whether Heyward was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel. For the reasons which follow, we reverse the judgment of the habeas court.1 In Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U. S. 52 106 SC 366, 88 LE2d 203 1985 the United States Supreme Court established the test for reviewing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in the context of a guilty plea. The Court held that a defendant who pleads guilty and who seeks to overturn his conviction because of counsel’s errors must meet the now familiar two-part test of Strickland v. Washington , 466 U. S. 668 104 SC 2052 80 LE2d 674 1984 —deficient performance and prejudice. The analysis of counsel’s performance is similar whether in the context of a trial or a guilty plea. The prejudice component in the context of a guilty plea, however, is met by showing “that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.”Hill , 474 U. S. at 58-59 State v. Heath , __Ga.__ 588 SE2d 738 2003. Heyward contends that his trial counsel was deficient in failing to properly investigate the case against him, which would have revealed that he had a viable justification defense, and in allowing him to plead guilty after it became apparent that the State’s case against him was unraveling. He argues that these deficiencies resulted in prejudice to him because had the case been adequately investigated and had he been properly advised, he would have insisted on a trial, where he could have presented a justification defense, and, more importantly, where the State might have been unable to obtain a conviction due to insufficient evidence. The habeas court found that Heyward failed to satisfy either prong of Strickland , and specifically, that trial counsel had conducted an adequate investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding Heyward’s case, that counsel’s conduct fell within the wide range of reasonable, professional conduct, and that all of counsel’s decisions were made in the exercise of reasonable, professional judgment. But, the record demonstrates otherwise.
A. Justification Defense.
