Riley v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed Riley’s convictions for malice murder and related offenses. It held that the trial court acted within its discretion in allowing the State’s lead investigator to remain in the courtroom, that Riley’s grand-jury and trial-evidence claims were unreviewable, unpreserved, or unsupported, and that his generalized ineffective-assistance claims failed. The court also held that counsel’s alternative insanity and other acquittal-oriented arguments did not concede guilt or create structural error under the governing client-autonomy rule.