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Final Copy 286 Ga. 692

S09A2076. STEVENS v. THE STATE. Benham, Justice. Appellant Daquan Stevens appeals his conviction for malice murder, participation in criminal street gang activity, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.1 For reasons stated below, we affirm. 1. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence reveals appellant was a member of a gang that referred to itself as the International Robbing Crew ("IRC") and which was engaged in numerous criminal activities, including robbery, burglary, and murder. On May 22, 2007, the gang, including
On November 2, 2007, appellant was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for approximately 24 criminal counts related to several robberies and murders. At the time, appellant was one of nine defendants who, collectively, were indicted on 39 criminal charges. On June 27, 2008, appellant was re-indicted. At that time, appellant was one of twelve defendants who, collectively, were indicted on 60 criminal charges. In April and May of 2009, appellant was tried jointly with five other defendants (Carlos Drennon, Maurice Hargrove, Edward Morris, Vincent Morris, and Tiffany Bankston) for ten criminal charges. On May 4, 2009, a jury found appellant guilty of the malice murder of Randy Griffin, participation in criminal street gang activity, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, aggravated assault of Randy Griffin, aggravated assault of Lacey Magee, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and conspiracy to commit murder (which count merged into malice murder). The jury acquitted appellant of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and another count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court sentenced appellant to life in prison for malice murder; sentenced him to serve consecutively ten years for attempted robbery; sentenced him to serve consecutively twenty years for each of the two counts of aggravated assault; sentenced him to serve consecutively five years for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime; and sentenced him to serve consecutively fifteen years for criminal street gang activity. Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal on June 3, 2009. The case was docketed in this Court on August 27, 2009, and submitted for a decision on the briefs.
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appellant, followed Randy Griffin to his townhouse with the intent to rob him. Appellant was in a car that followed Griffin as he left a club on his way home. There was a second car of gang members already lying in wait at Griffin's townhouse complex. Appellant alerted the gang members in the second car that Griffin was approaching his home. The gang members in the second car engaged in a shootout with Griffin during which Griffin's girlfriend Lacey Magee suffered a gunshot wound to her hand. Meanwhile, the car in which appellant was riding arrived just outside Griffin's townhouse complex as the shootout was occurring. In a panic, Randy Griffin ran outside the complex and entered the car occupied by appellant and told the occupants he had just been robbed and his girlfriend shot. At that point, appellant and his cohorts elected not to kill Griffin for fear of being recorded by street surveillance cameras. When the second vehicle exited the townhouse complex, Griffin exited appellant's car and started shooting at the second vehicle as it drove away. Appellant and the remaining gang members left the scene as well. During the shootout, two IRC members were wounded and one of them, Carlos Drennon, sought treatment at the same hospital as the victim Magee. While at the hospital, Griffin identified Drennon to police and they arrested Drennon at the hospital and soon jailed him on charges related to the attempted robbery of Griffin. The next day, the gang, including appellant, met and decided to target Griffin to be murdered. That same day, they took steps to that end by arming themselves with guns and going to Griffin's place of employment, but
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they did not find Griffin at that time. Less than a month later, on June 10, 2007, three gang members encountered Griffin at a club and two of them shot Griffin a total of five times. The fatal shot caused a bullet to enter Griffin's back, pierce his right lung and damage his pulmonary artery before the bullet exited through his chest.2 Griffin died at the scene. After the shooting, appellant and other gang members alerted Drennon, who was still in jail, that Griffin had been killed. At trial, several witnesses, including Atlanta Police Detective David Quinn, Marciell Easterling, a member of the IRC, Tiffany Bankston, Drennon's girlfriend, and Gary Lester, who had dealings with the gang and became their victim, testified to the facts and circumstances of the IRC's criminal activities, corroborating appellant's participation in the crimes for which he was charged. The State also admitted into evidence the defendants' custodial statements to authorities, recordings of Drennon's jailhouse telephone conversations with various gang members including appellant, two guns used in the attempted robbery of Griffin, and cellular phone records placing gang members in the vicinity of the site of Griffin's murder at the time it occurred. The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder, participation in criminal street gang activity, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during
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The other four shots did not create wounds sufficient to cause Griffin's death. 3

the commission of a felony. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979); Nelms v. State, 285 Ga. 718 (1) (681 SE2d 141) (2009); Matthews v. State, 284 Ga. 819 (1) (672 SE2d 633) (2009); Cummings v. State, 273 Ga. 547 (1) (544 SE2d 429) (2001); In the Interest of X. W., 301 Ga. App. 625 (688 SE2d 646) (2009); OCGA

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