Woodard v. State

NAHMIAS, Justice.

Appellant William Woodard was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in connection with the shooting deaths of two DeKalb County police officers, Eric C. Barker and Ricky L. Bryant, Jr. Although the State sought the death penalty, the jury recommended sentences of life without parole. Appellant now contends that several jury instructions improperly undermined his defense of justification *804by lessening the State’s burden of proof, and he asserts that his trial counsel were ineffective in failing to object to the trial court’s instruction, tracking the language of OCGA §…