Pierce v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Pierce’s convictions for malice murder, first-degree arson, and violating the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. It held that the evidence was constitutionally sufficient and rejected challenges involving gang-expert testimony, other-gang-member evidence, juror conduct, prosecutorial remarks, alleged Brady violations, recusal, prosecutorial misconduct, and ineffective assistance of counsel. The court concluded that several claims were unpreserved or inadequately presented and that the preserved claims failed on the merits.