Following a jury trial, DeShawn Jones was convicted of malice murder, felony murder, making false statements to police, aggravated assault, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and attempt and conspiracy to sell cocaine in connection with a failed drug deal and the beating death of Wayne David.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that at daybreak on July 3, 2004, Jones and his co-defendant, ZaTerry Hester, attempted to sell cocaine to David. When a dispute arose over money, David refused the drugs and asked to get his money back. Jones and Hester then hit and kicked David, causing him to fall to the ground. David informed Jones that he had undergone open-heart surgery in 2001 and that he did not want to fight, but Jones continued to beat David for 15 to 20 minutes as a large crowd gathered at the scene. Although David did not defend himself during the fight, when Jones noticed a cut on his neck that he believed had been inflicted by David, he became enraged and stated that he was going to kill him. Jones hit David, who again fell to the ground, and continued to beat him in a manner that one witness described as “horrific.” David pleaded for help and yelled for someone to call the police or an ambulance. David said repeatedly that he could not see or breathe. The police arrived after Jones and Hester had left the scene, and an ambulance took David to the hospital, where he suffered two heart attacks and died. The medical examiner described David’s cause of death as superficial injuries of the head and torso with the underlying problems of heart disease and cocaine use. The examiner also found cocaine and alcohol in David’s system.
Jones contends that the trial court should have granted his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal on the murder charges against him because the evidence supported a reasonable hypothesis that David died as a result of a heart condition and cocaine use as opposed to the beating that he suffered at the hands of Jones and Hester. However, questions as to the reasonableness of hypotheses are generally to be decided by the jury. Robbins v. State,
2. Jones’s contention that the trial court erred in denying his request to prohibit references to David as the “victim” at trial is without merit, as this Court previously has held that the use of the word “victim” in referring to the deceased does not amount to an improper comment on the guilt of the accused. Sedlak v. State,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
On October 7, 2005, Jones was indicted for malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, attempt and conspiracy to sell cocaine, and making false statements to a law enforcement officer. Jones was found guilty on all counts on December 2, 2005, and on that same day was sentenced to life for the malice murder, fifteen years concurrent for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and five years concurrent for making false statements. The convictions for felony murder were vacated by operation of law, Malcolm v. State,
To the extent that Jones argues that an expert witness should not have been allowed to testify that David died as the result of “homicide,” such argument is waived on appeal due to Jones’s failure to object to this testimony at trial. Minor v. State,