Appellant was charged with aggravated assault after shooting the victim with a handgun as he and the victim were driving their respective motor vehicles westbound on 1-20 in DeKalb County. Appellant contended that he had shot in self-defense because the victim was chasing him. The judgment entered on a jury conviction of the assault charge led to this appeal, in which appellant raises six enumerations *696 of error. We affirm.
1. Appellant claims that the trial court should not have instructed the jury on mutual combat since there was no evidence to support the charge. We disagree. “Mutual combat ; . . generally involves deadly weapons and the mutual intention of using them. [Cit.]”
Donaldson v. State,
The evidence showed that appellant cut in front of the victim as they approached an entrance ramp to 1-20. Appellant then stopped short on the ramp, causing the victim to brake abruptly. Once on the highway, the victim pulled up next to appellant and they began cursing, gesturing, and swerving their vehicles at each other while driving at speeds of at least 55 miles per hour. The episode ended when appellant fired a shot at the victim and sped away. The evidence presented justified the mutual combat charge. “It is well established that an instruction is not inapplicable where there is any evidence, however slight, on which to predicate it. [Cit.]”
Williams v. State,
2. Contrary to appellant’s assertion, the trial court did comply with OCGA § 5-5-24 (b) by informing counsel before closing argument of its proposed action on the requests to charge, by charging the jury after the arguments, and by filing with the clerk all of the submitted requests to charge. Although we believe an oral discussion of the proposed charges is the better practice, we were presented with and have found no authority in support of appellant’s contention that the trial court must converse with counsel about individual jury instructions. Our review of the record shows that defense counsel was afforded an opportunity to review the trial court’s written charges and to submit his written exceptions thereto before closing argument. Counsel was also permitted to except to the charge after it was given. In light of *697 the foregoing and the result reached in Division 1 of this opinion, no error resulted from the trial court’s failure to review the charges orally with appellant’s counsel.
3. Appellant also claims that the trial court failed to file with the clerk of court its written charge as read to the jury, and that the failure constituted reversible error. This assertion has no validity. OCGA § 17-8-54 requires that the written jury charge, once read, be given to the clerk for filing only if the charge is not taken down and transcribed in full by an official court reporter at the court’s direction. The record shows that an official court reporter took down the full charge, transcribed it, and included it as part of the trial transcript for the record on appeal, thereby obviating the need for filing the charge with the clerk.
4. The denial of appellant’s motion in limine and admission of evidence that the gun used in the assault had been stolen was not error. While it is true that when one is on trial for the commission of a crime, proof of a distinct, independent and separate offense is not admissible unless the proof of one tends to establish the other, the rule has its exceptions. “[W]hen the extraneous crime . . . may bear upon the question of the identity of the accused, or articles connected with the offense” for which a defendant is being tried, evidence of the extraneous crime is admissible.
State v. Luke,
5. On two occasions appellant was prohibited from testifying about his background and experiences as they related to his affray with the victim. During direct examination he was asked to describe what Brownsville and Brooklyn, New York, were like, to which the court sustained an objection. No offer of proof was made. Appellant was later asked if he had had occasion to feel that his life was in danger while he was growing up. A relevancy objection was sustained. Appellant’s counsel attempted to interject the case of
Daniels v. State,
6. Appellant’s final contention is that the trial court committed reversible error by prohibiting defense counsel from reading law to the jury during his closing argument. When counsel announced he was going to read from a Georgia Supreme Court case on reasonable doubt, the trial court interjected, stating that counsel could not read law to the jury. While “counsel may read and comment to the jury on the law during argument in a criminal case, such right is not absolute, but is circumscribed by limitations. It is well recognized that the court has the power ... to restrain counsel from reading to the jury in such a way as to confuse them, or to proscribe the reading of law not applicable to the case or to points in issue. [Cits.] In short, the trial court exercises discretion in such matters and this court will not interfere in the absence of an abuse of that discretion.”
Griffin v. State,
Assuming, without deciding, that the trial court did err, it would be harmless error due to the overwhelming evidence against appellant. “To reverse a jury finding of guilty in the face of such overwhelming evidence would be a perversion of justice.”
Hamilton v. State,
Judgment affirmed.