A judgе of the Juvenile Court of Charlton County adjudicated 16-year-old J. W B. delinquent of committing acts which, if сommitted by an adult, would have constituted felony aggravated assault, OCGA § 16-5-21. J. W B. appeals, cоntending the evidence adduced was insufficient to support his adjudication beyond a reаsonable doubt, and that the court erred in admitting evidence of J. W. B.’s opprobrious conduct after the assault was allegedly over. Finding no error, we affirm.
1. J. W. B. contends the evidence adduced was insufficient to show an aggravated assault in that it shows only that he was defending himself, not that he assaulted the victim in this case. We disagree.
In considering a challenge to the sufficiеncy of the evidence supporting an adjudication of delinquency, we construe the еvidence and every inference from the evidence in favor of the juvenile court’s adjudication to determine if a reasonable finder of fact could have found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the juvenile committed the acts charged. The standard of review on appeal in a case of adjudication of*132 delinquency of a juvenile is the same as that for any criminal case. We do not weigh the evidence or determine witness сredibility.
(Citations, punctuation and footnotes omitted.) In the Interest of M. V. H.,
On March 13, 2008, J. W. B. and a neighbоr, Willie Cobb, were sitting on the porch with another friend, engaged in a conversation about politics and religion. The conversation turned into an argument, and J. W B. “jumped up and put his hands in [Cobb’s] face, like he was going to hit [him].” Cobb walked away, but J. W. B. followed him. J. W B. threw a punch at Cobb, and Cobb punсhed J. W. B. back, knocking him down. Cobb walked away again, and J. W B. followed him. J. W B. spit in Cobb’s face and shouted racial slurs. Cobb walked to his home, and J. W B. grabbed a metal rod from a neighbor’s garden. J. W. B. ran at Cobb, aggressively swinging the rod at Cobb, who felt threatened enough to go inside his home and grab a kitchеn knife. Cobb stayed inside while J. W. B.’s mother tried to calm him down. J. W B. continued shouting racial epithets and drоpped his pants in front of female witnesses.
An assault is an attempt to commit a violent injury tо the person of another or an act which places another in reasonablе apprehension of immediately receiving a violent injury. OCGA § 16-5-20. Aggravated assault is an assault conducted with an object which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to result in serious bodily injury. OCGA § 16-5-21.
Merneigh v. State,
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the findings and judgment of the juvenile court, we find that the evidence presented here was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that J. W B. cоmmitted acts which, if committed by an adult, would have constituted the offense of aggravated assault. Carter v. State,
2. J. W B. complains that the court errеd in allowing witnesses to testify that, after Cobb went inside his home, J. W B. dropped his pants in front of female witnesses. The court properly overruled J. W B.’s objection, as the conduct at issue was a part of the res gestae.
It is well settled in this state that acts are pertinent as a pаrt of the res gestae if they are done pending the hostile enterprise, and if they bear upon it, are performed whilst it is in continuous progress to its catastrophe, and are of а nature to promote or obstruct, advance or retard it, or to evince essentiаl motive or purpose in reference to it.
(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Sypho v. State,
Judgment affirmed.