Patricia K. August was convicted of armed robbery and aggra *511 vated assault. She was sentenced to serve ten years on the armed robbery and five years concurrently on the aggravated assault. She brings this appeal enumerating five alleged errors. Held:
1. In her first three enumerations, Ms. August assigns as error the failure and sufficiency of the evidence to support the verdicts. Without recounting the evidence, we note Ms. August concedes that she was present and participated in the armed robbery and the assault that occurred along with the robbery. She now contends (as she did at trial) that she was not a voluntary participant in the crimes but acted only out of fear for her life through the coercion of other participants in the crimes. The trial court fully and properly charged on the law of principles of parties to a crime and the affirmative defense of coercion. The jury was presented with conflicting evidence both of a direct and circumstantial nature on the issue of whether Ms. August was a willing and thus guilty participant or acted only out of coercion.
On appeal this court is bound to construe the evidence with every inference and presumption being in favor of upholding the jury’s verdict.
Wren v. State,
2. In her fourth enumeration of error, Ms. August contends the trial court erred in permitting the prosecutor to present argument that a verdict of acquittal would involve a disregard of the jurors’ oath and that an acquittal would in effect place a stamp of approval upon violent crime in Effingham County.
In his closing argument, the prosecutor was addressing the issue of coercion advanced by Ms. August. He reminded the jury that a TV comedian had always argued that the “devil made him do it.” He then conceded the jurors had the right to disregard all the evidence adduced by the State and grant what was denominated a jury pardon but at the risk of their obligation to fairly judge between the parties. He further pointed out that to turn a guilty party free would be the same as saying it was appropriate to commit violent crime in the county without fear of punishment. At that point, objection was made to the attempt of the prosecutor to interpret a jury’s verdict.
Thus, it is apparent that the ambiguous observation made by the prosecutor that a jury could disregard the evidence and grant a jury
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pardon in disregard of their oath of impartiality passed without immediate comment by the defense. A few moments later when the prosecutor pursued the argument that a jury pardon for a violent crime gave the wrong signal in Effingham County the defense objected that this amounted to an improper characterization of the effect of a jury verdict. First, we observe that it long has been the law in this state that a prosecutor may argue to the jury the necessity for enforcement of law and may impress on the jury with considerable latitude in imagery and illustration its responsibility in this regard.
Terhune v. State,
3. In her last enumeration of error, Ms. August contends that the trial court should have given her requested instruction that in order to convict the State must show affirmatively an intention to aid and abet or an active involvement in the two crimes charged.
Even a casual reading of the charge of the trial court shows the charge covered fully (even to overflowing) each and every applicable principle of law concerning the crimes of armed robbery and aggravated assault and the law of principals as well as intent and participation only under coercion. It is axiomatic that a charge is to be considered as a whole, and where the charge as given covers the substance of the subject matter of the request, it is not error that the charge is not exactly in the language of the request.
Stevens v. State,
Judgment affirmed.