Keith Watson Powell appeals his convictions for malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the fatal shooting of his elderly father, George Watson Powell. He contends that his trial counsel was ineffective by failing to interview witnesses and by otherwise failing to properly prepare for trial. Finding Powell’s claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel to be without merit, we affirm his convictions.1 Construed in favor of the verdicts, the evidence showed that on May 22, 1998, Keith Powell, who was 44-years-old and had been living with his parents for the past five years, was at home and, as was his custom, carrying a .45-caliber handgun in a holster at his hip. Powell’s parents were afraid to confront him about carrying the pistol around the house.
That evening, Powell’s mother, Betty Powell, returned home and was looking for the television remote control. Powell, as he had a habit of doing, hid the remote control from his mother. When she asked for it, he refused to give it to her. Powell’s father, George Watson Powell “Watson”, witnessed the incident and told Powell to give the remote control to his mother, but Powell again refused and went from the den to the kitchen. Despite Betty’s urging that he drop the matter, Watson followed Powell into the kitchen and again asked that the remote control be given to Betty. Powell responded that he would do so when his father “quit treating him like a three-year-old.” At that, the 72-year-old Watson grabbed his son by the shirt and began twisting it. Powell jumped out of the chair, pushed it away, and went over to the windows behind the table; Watson and Betty stepped back. Standing about eight and one-half to nine feet away from Watson, Powell pulled out his pistol and shot his father in the stomach. Watson was unarmed and never struck Powell or even drew back his fist. Betty called 9-1-1, but Watson died of his wound. When the police arrived at the home, Powell was waiting for them with a toothbrush and a Bible. He admitted shooting his father, and the police retrieved the murder weapon from a kitchen cabinet.
