Johnson v. State, 331 Ga. App. 134

In June 2010 Johnson robbed a Gwinnett County bank by handing the teller a note, wearing sunglasses and a cap, speaking on a cell phone, placing his hand at his hip, and threatening to shoot if she looked at others; the teller never saw a gun.
Three days later a similar robbery occurred in DeKalb County; that victim also testified Johnson handed a note, patted his hip, and gave the impression he had a gun.
Johnson was identified from an anonymous tip and one DeKalb teller identified him at trial.
At trial Johnson’s counsel conceded he committed the Gwinnett robbery but argued he did not use a gun, so the offense could not be armed robbery.
Johnson sought to introduce certified copies of guilty pleas from DeKalb County showing convictions for robbery by intimidation (lesser included offenses) to support that he did not use a gun; the trial court excluded the plea evidence and Johnson did not testify.
The jury convicted Johnson of armed robbery; he appealed arguing (1) insufficient evidence that a weapon was used and (2) erroneous exclusion of his DeKalb plea evidence. The Court affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to support armed robbery conviction	State: circumstantial evidence (threat, hand-at-hip, victim fear) shows use or appearance of a weapon	Johnson: teller never saw a weapon so cannot be armed robbery	Held: Evidence sufficient; reasonable apprehension of a weapon may be inferred from threats and gestures
Admissibility of certified pleas from separate DeKalb prosecutions	Johnson: pleas to robbery by intimidation show he did not use a gun in similar robberies and support his defense	State: plea evidence inadmissible/first-offender concerns and would be speculative as to prosecutor’s reasons	Held: Trial court did not abuse discretion excluding plea evidence because the plea’s reasoning was speculative and would not make nonuse of a gun more probable

Bryson v. State, 316 Ga. App. 512 (circumstantial evidence can establish use or appearance of a weapon)
Smith v. State, 274 Ga. App. 568 (issue is whether defendant’s acts created reasonable apprehension of a weapon)
Fluellen v. State, 284 Ga. App. 584 (conviction requires some physical manifestation or evidence from which a weapon’s presence may be inferred)
Joyner v. State, 278 Ga. App. 60 (victim’s demonstration of defendant’s hand placement supported armed robbery conviction)
Marlin v. State, 273 Ga. App. 856 (note claiming a gun plus concealed hand supported armed robbery)
Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357 (plea bargaining reflects mutual advantages and prosecutor motivations may vary)
Dawson v. State, 283 Ga. 315 (proffered third-party evidence must do more than raise speculation)
Boatman v. State, 272 Ga. 139 (exclusion proper where evidence only invites conjecture)
Chastain v. State, 255 Ga. 723 (reversal required where inferences are mere speculation)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (standard for sufficiency of the evidence)