Golson v. State

FINAL COPY

                 S19A0565. GOLSON v. THE STATE.


      BLACKWELL, Justice.

      Adrian Lamar Golson was tried by a Tift County jury and

convicted of murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Arlester

Jackson, Jr. Golson appeals, claiming only that he was denied the

effective assistance of counsel. He failed, however, to preserve that

claim for appellate review, and we affirm.1

      1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the

evidence shows that Golson and Jackson were engaged in a

prolonged dispute for several weeks in October 2012. On the evening



      1 Jackson was killed in October 2012. A Tift County grand jury indicted

Golson in September 2015, charging him with murder with malice
aforethought, murder in the commission of a felony (aggravated assault), and
aggravated assault. Golson was tried in September 2015. The jury acquitted
Golson of malice murder but found him guilty of felony murder and aggravated
assault. The trial court sentenced Golson to imprisonment for life without the
possibility of parole for murder, and the aggravated assault merged into the
murder. Golson timely filed a motion for new trial, and the trial court denied
that motion in March 2018. Golson then timely filed a notice of appeal. The
case was docketed in this Court for the April 2019 term and submitted for
decision on the briefs.
of October 27, Golson encountered Jackson on Cherry Street in Ty

Ty, Georgia. Golson was carrying a .380 pistol, but Jackson was

unarmed. Golson confronted Jackson, asking Jackson about threats

that had been attributed to him. Jackson responded: “[Y]ou heard

what . . . I said.” Golson then shot Jackson six times, twice in the

head. Jackson died at the scene. The evidence presented at trial,

when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, is sufficient

to authorize a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt

that Golson is guilty of the crime of which he was convicted. See

Jackson v. Virginia, 

 (III) (B) (

, 61

LE2d 560) (1979).

     2. Golson claims that he was denied the effective assistance of

counsel at trial because his lawyer failed to object to testimony about

statements made by Jackson on the day that he was killed. Golson,

however, did not raise this claim below, notwithstanding that he was

represented by new counsel in connection with his motion for new

trial and had an opportunity to raise it. See Chatman v. Mancill, 

 (1) (

) (2006). Because Golson failed to
raise the claim “at the earliest practicable moment,” he failed to

preserve this claim for appellate review. See Bailey v. State, 

 (

) (1994).

     Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur.




                         Decided June 3, 2019.

     Murder. Tift Superior Court. Before Judge Crosby, Senior Judge.

     H. Burton Baker, for appellant.

     C. Paul Bowden, District Attorney, Robert A. Rogers, Assistant

District Attorney; Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Patricia B.

Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior

Assistant Attorney General, Ashleigh D. Headrick, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellee.