State v. Givens

BRYANT, Judge.

*121 Where defendant has not met his burden to show that defense counsel was deficient by not fulfilling a promise made to the jury in his opening statement, defendant was not prejudiced and is not entitled to a new trial.

Arthur Lee Givens, defendant, and Donald Everette Gist, the victim, became acquainted in the fall of 2014 while they both stayed at Schameka Earl's home for a few weeks. At *44 first, Gist got along well with both Earl and defendant. After a few weeks, however, both Earl and defendant began having issues with Gist. Defendant, who testified at trial, said Gist began…