Aрpellant Darryl John White was convicted of the felony murder of Ronald Price with the underlying felony being aggravated assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. After reviewing appellant’s enumerations of error, we affirm the judgment of conviction. 1
An eyewitness identified appellant as the man he saw walk up to the victim and strike him in the chest, fold up a knife and put it in his pocket, and walk away. The victim was treatеd at a hospital for a stab wound to his chest and was transferred to a long-term medical-care facility. He died at that facility two months later as a result of a blood clot that had formed due to his immobilization and had broken off and lodged in his lungs. The eyewitness testified he had not seen or hеard *8 the victim do or say anything to provoke appellant’s attack. Appellant testified and admitted stabbing the victim but maintained his action was justified because the victim was one of several smokers who on the day of the stabbing had surrounded appellant and “tortured” him by blowing cigarette smoke in his face and causing him to inhale the smoke, which resulted in appellant having difficulty breathing and becoming dizzy.
1. The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of felony murder with the underlying felony being aggravatеd assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.
Jackson v. Virginia,
2. Appellant complains the trial court erred when it declined to give his rеquested jury instruction on “no duty to retreat.” Trial counsel submitted a written request to charge on the subject and objected at the charge conference when the trial court told counsel it would not give the charge; however, no objection was made after instructions were given to the jury following the closing arguments. Because an objection voiced at the charge conference does not preserve оbjections to the charge as subsequently given
(Carruth v. State,
Appellant presented a justification defense as his sole dеfense and the trial court instructed the jury on the law of justification and that an actual assault need not have been made upon a defendant in order to justify a homicide. “[W]here self-defense is the sole defense, and the issue of retreat is raised by the evidence or placed in issue, the defense is entitled to a charge on the principles of retreat. . . .”
*9
Johnson v. State,
3. Appellant next contends the trial court erroneously accepted the jury’s verdict finding appellant guilty of fеlony murder without requiring the jury to decide whether the killing was mitigated by the sudden passion resulting from serious provocation that could reduce the killing to vоluntary manslaughter. Appellant sees error in the trial court’s acceptance of the jury’s verdict that found appellant guilty of felony murder without having entered a verdict with regard to voluntary manslaughter.
2
Appellant does not assert that the trial court gave an improper sequential charge (compare
Edge v. State,
Edge
does not require a jury
to make a finding
concerning the existence or non-existence of sudden and violent passion resulting from serious provocation before returning a guilty verdict on malice or felony murder;
Edge
requires only that a jury be instructed that it must
consider
whether there existed such passion and provocation prior to returning a guilty verdict on malice or felony murder. Where, as here, the jury wаs instructed properly, we presume, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, that qualified jurors followed the trial cоurt’s instructions to consider voluntary manslaughter before finding a defendant guilty of felony murder.
Herring v. State,
277 Ga.
*10
317 (6) (c) (
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The victim was stabbed on March 10,2007, and died as а result of complications from the wound two months later. In a true bill of indictment returned on September 21, 2007, a Fulton County grand jury charged appellant with malice murder, felony murder (aggravated assault), aggravated assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Appellаnt’s trial commenced on February 16, 2009, and concluded the next day with the jury’s return of guilty verdicts on all charges except the malice murder chargе. Appellant was sentenced on February 18 to life imprisonment on the felony murder conviction and a consecutive term of five years fоr possession of the knife. The aggravated assault conviction merged into the felony murder conviction as a matter of fact. Appellant’s motion for new trial was filed on February 16, 2009, was amended on December 2, 2010, and was the subject of a hearing on December 21, 2010. The amended mоtion was denied on July 11,2011, and a notice of appeal was timely filed on August 10, 2011. The appeal was docketed in this Court to the January 2012 term of court, and was submitted for decision on the briefs.
The jury was given a verdict form that listed malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, voluntary manslaughter, аnd possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Under each crime was the phrase “We find the Defendant_.” The jury filled out the form finding appellant not guilty of malice murder, guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a knife, and returning no verdict with regard to voluntary manslaughter.