Romero v. State, 307 Ga. App. 348

Romero and Torres were convicted of aggravated assault as parties to a crime after co-defendant Luing could not be located at trial.
The victim, a convenience-store clerk, was attacked with an iron pipe on August 22, 2008; attackers fled in a car, and surveillance captured the events.
Police used surveillance video and vehicle tags to identify Romero; a search of a Dalton residence yielded three iron pipes from the back seat.
Romero identified Torres and Luing as the other two in the attack; all three were charged as parties to the crime.
The jury found Romero and Torres guilty; they argued the evidence was insufficient to support a verdict and moved for directed verdict, which the trial court denied.
The appellate court reviews violence trials to determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Romero and Torres as parties to the aggravated assault	Romero and Torres contend presence at the scene is insufficient	State argues circumstantial evidence shows they aided and abetted based on conduct and knowledge	Yes; evidence sufficient to support party-to-crime convictions

Reese v. State, 270 Ga.App. 522 (2004) (standard of review for sufficiency on appeal)
Jackson v. State, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (reasonable-doubt standard on direct evidence vs. circumstantial)
Stinson v. State, 294 Ga.App. 184 (2008) (definition of party to a crime and aiding/abetting)
Buruca v. State, 278 Ga.App. 650 (2006) (circumstantial evidence and how guilt is determined)
Head v. State, 261 Ga.App. 185 (2003) (presence and conduct as evidence of criminal intent)
Parnell v. State, 260 Ga.App. 213 (2003) (getaway driver may be guilty of co-defendants' crimes)
Ratana v. State, 297 Ga.App. 747 (2009) (knowledge of intended crime and shared criminal intent)
Johnson v. State, 299 Ga.App. 706 (2009) (driving away does not alone prove aiding and abetting)