Supreme Court of Georgia
Benton v. State
May 1, 2017301 Ga. 100
Summary
The court affirmed Benton's convictions, holding that the evidence was sufficient and that the trial court properly permitted juror-submitted questions and admitted the autopsy photographs. It vacated the portion of the sentence merging the firearm-possession conviction into the malice-murder conviction because those offenses do not merge, and remanded for resentencing on the firearm-possession count. The court rejected Benton's ineffective-assistance claims because the challenged decisions were reasonable strategic choices or caused no prejudice.