Preview:

Final Copy 287 Ga. 260

S10A0177. HICKS v. THE STATE.

Thompson, Justice. Appellant Deanthony Rashawn Hicks was convicted of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with the fatal shooting of Michael Howard.1 He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, asserting that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his murder conviction, and that the trial court erred in refusing his requests to instruct the jury on justification by use of force in defense of others and voluntary
The crimes were committed on September 10, 2006. Appellant was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on December 22, 2006, on charges of malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of an aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Trial commenced on October 8, 2007, and on October 12, 2007, a jury found appellant guilty of the charges, except for two counts of aggravated assault against Quatavius Berry. He was sentenced on October 23, 2009, to life in prison plus a consecutive five-year term of imprisonment on the firearm possession offense. The remaining counts were merged or vacated by operation of law. See Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (5) (434 SE2d 479) (1993). Appellant filed a motion for new trial on October 18, 2007, which was amended on May 1, 2009 and again on July 7, 2009. The amended motion for new trial was denied on July 9, 2009. Appellant filed his notice of appeal on July 28, 2009. The case was docketed in this Court on October 6, 2009 and submitted for decision on the briefs.
1

manslaughter. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that a group of friends had congregated at a cul-de-sac in a residential subdivision when, following an argument between the victim and Tierra Vinson, appellant appeared from a corner of the street wielding a pistol. He approached the victim pointing the pistol in his face. The unarmed victim swatted at the firearm and then attempted to run away. As the victim turned and ran, appellant shot him three times in the back, killing him. Appellant left the scene along with codefendant Soupaisith Ratana in Ratana's vehicle. Eyewitness Quatavius Berry could not identify appellant in a photographic lineup, but he did identify him as the shooter at trial. Witnesses Jamilah Hamilton and appellant's former girlfriend, Keosha Cox, were present at the time of the shooting and identified appellant from a photographic lineup. Both Hamilton and Cox told police that appellant was running behind the victim at the time of the shooting, and Cox said he was responsible for the murder. At trial, however, both witnesses recanted their previous statements: Hamilton denied seeing appellant run after the victim and Cox claimed that she was intoxicated at the time.
2

1. Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the murder conviction because Berry's identification of him as the shooter was not credible, and the only other evidence implicating him consisted of the recanted statements of Cox and Hamilton. While Berry failed to identify appellant from a photographic lineup, he testified at trial that appellant was responsible for the shooting. In addition to witness testimony implicating appellant, police found bullets of the same caliber used to shoot the victim in co-defendant Ratana's vehicle soon after the shooting. The jury was also shown transcripts and video recordings of statements given to the police by both Cox and Hamilton, in which they implicated appellant. This evidence was ample for any rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). "[Appellant's] contention that the evidence was conflicting and that the witnesses who testified for the state were not credible does not change this result, as `resolving evidence conflicts and inconsistencies, and assessing witness credibility, are the province of the factfinder, not this Court.'" Major v. State, 280 Ga. 746, 747 (632 SE2d 661) (2006).
3

2. Appellant asserts as error the trial court's refusal to give his requested jury instruction on justification by use of force in defense of others. Under

OCGA

Download S10A0177. HICKS v. THE STATE 6-7-10  Substitute opinion issued.  

Georgia Law