Horne v. StateHorne v. State
- Reporters:
- , , ,
- Before:
- Birdsong
David E. Horne appeals his judgment of conviction of armed robbery and his life sentence.
The victim testified he saw appellant approaching and climbed into his pickup truck. Appellant pulled the truck door open, displayed a knife, and demanded money. The victim gave him money and appellant fled. The victim pursued appellant in his truck. Subsequently, the police joined in the pursuit and appellant was apprehended. A police officer testified appellant was observed fleeing from the pursuing victim; and as appellant was being apprehended, he dropped a knife. Both the knife and the victim’s money were recovered.
Appellant denied committing any crime. He claimed he merely asked the victim for money, pulled the truck door open when his hand almost got caught as it was being closed, and that the victim then gave him some money (which apparently due to a mistake was more money than intended). As appellant was leaving, the victim began pursuing, yelling he had been robbed. Appellant panicked and ran. Held:
1. Appellant asserts the trial court erred in failing to allow him to testify as to a prior inconsistent statement made by the victim during a preliminary inquiry hearing.
Gibbons v. State, 248 Ga. 858, 862-865 (286 SE2d 717), cited by appellant, and Sprouse v. State, 250 Ga. 174 (296 SE2d 584) are factually distinguishable and are not controlling.
2. Appellant asserts on the general grounds that the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial.
Any errors of law encompassed within appellant’s enumeration of error based on the general grounds that have not been supported in appellant’s brief by citation of authority or argument are deemed to have been abandoned. Court of Appeals Rule 15 (c) (2). (See Division 1 above, finding that the trial court did not err refusing to permit appellant to testify as to a certain prior inconsistent statement of the victim.) Further, the record on its face reflects the existence of no reversible error of law whatsoever.
Appellant asserts the verdict was without evidence to support it, as there exists in this case “a great insufficiency of evidence to overcome the presumption of innocence.” On appeal the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to support the verdict, and appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, an appellate court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility. Grant v. State, 195 Ga. App. 463 (1) (393 SE2d 737). “And, the test established in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) ‘is the proper test for (an appellate court to employ) when the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, whether the challenge arises from the overruling of a motion for directed verdict or the overruling of a motion for new trial based upon alleged insufficiency of the evidence.’ ” Daras v. State, 201 Ga. App. 512 (1) (411 SE2d 367). Review of the transcript in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict reveals ample evidence from which any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty of the offenses charged. Jackson v. Virginia, supra. Although flight instructions are no longer authorized, the Supreme Court of Georgia nevertheless recognizes “[t]he fact that a suspect flees the scene of a crime points to the question of guilt in a circumstantial manner.” Renner v. State, 260 Ga. 515, 517 (3 b) (397 SE2d 683). Moreover, the basic facts to which the victim and police *83 officer testified are recounted above, and the victim’s eyewitness testimony provided direct evidence of appellant’s guilt. Appellant’s contention is without merit.
Judgment affirmed.
Beasley and Andrews, JJ., concur.