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Final Copy 287 Ga. 275 S10A0326. DOCKERY v. THE STATE. Hunstein, Chief Justice. Appellant Jeremy Dockery appeals his conviction for murder and related charges arising from a June 2005 shooting, which killed Kareem Nicholson and injured Selena Golden. Finding no error, we affirm.1 1. Construed most strongly in favor of the verdict, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. On the night of the crimes, appellant and Lamont Seals encountered Brandon Hosch at a Gwinnett County sports bar. An altercation ensued between Seals and Hosch, who had previously been involved in a fight at another nightclub, and Seals threatened to kill Hosch. The men
The crimes occurred on June 3, 2005. Appellant was indicted by a Gwinnett County grand jury on September 7, 2005 on charges of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Appellant was tried April 16-24, 2007 and found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment for the malice murder of Nicholson, twenty years consecutive for the aggravated assault of victim Golden, and five years consecutive, to be served on probation, for the firearm possession count. The felony murder count was vacated by operation of law, and the aggravated assault count as to Nicholson merged into the malice murder conviction. Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (4), (5) (434 SE2d 479) (1993). Appellant filed a timely motion for new trial, which was amended twice following the appointment of appellate counsel. After holding an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied the motion for new trial on June 18, 2009, and appellant filed his notice of appeal on June 30, 2009. The case was docketed for the January 2010 term in this Court and was submitted for decision on the briefs.
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were escorted out of the sports bar, and appellant and Seals left in a white Malibu belonging to appellant's girlfriend. After going home to retrieve pistols, appellant and Seals drove to a gas station across the street from the sports bar and spotted Hosch there. They got out of the car and opened fire in Hosch's direction but missed their mark, instead hitting victims Nicholson and Golden. Appellant and Seals then returned to the car and sped away. Although Golden survived, Nicholson died from gunshot wounds to the head and chest. The white Malibu was found hours later in a parking lot less than a mile from the crime scene. In the aftermath of the crime, victim Golden and three other eyewitnesses identified appellant from a photo lineup as having been the shooter. At trial, all four of these witnesses confirmed their prior identification and testified that appellant was the perpetrator; a fifth eyewitness also testified at trial that appellant was the shooter. Another witness, who was incarcerated with

appellant in the months after the shooting, testified that appellant had described to him the crime and the events leading up to it and boasted that the State lacked sufficient evidence to convict him. In addition, Seals, who was called as a witness for the State under a grant of testimonial immunity, corroborated
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various details of the night of the crimes and testified specifically that it was appellant who actually shot the victims. The evidence as set forth above was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). Despite appellant's assertions as to various discrepancies in witness testimony, "the appellate courts do not resolve conflicts in trial testimony nor do they weigh the evidence on appeal. [Cits.]" Willis v. State, 263 Ga. 597, 598 (1) (436 SE2d 204) (1993). 2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in declining to strike for cause a prospective juror whose native language was Spanish. See Abdullah v. State, 284 Ga. 399 (2) (667 SE2d 584) (2008) (decision to strike juror for cause reviewed under abuse of discretion standard). Though the juror expressed concern that he might not understand legal terminology, he also testified that he had lived in America for 22 years, demonstrated his ability to speak and understand English by his responses in voir dire, and affirmed that he believed he could be a fair and impartial juror. See id. (no abuse of discretion where trial court declined to strike juror whose speech and comprehension were good).
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Compare Sears v. State, 268 Ga. 759 (7) (493 SE2d 180) (1997) (trial court properly excused prospective juror who exhibited difficulty understanding and speaking English). This enumeration is thus without merit. 3. The trial court likewise did not err by excepting the State's lead investigator, Detective Steven Shaw, from the rule of sequestration. It is well within the trial court's discretion to permit a witness to remain in the courtroom despite invocation of the rule of sequestration where the State shows his presence is necessary for the orderly presentation of evidence. Thorpe v. State, 285 Ga. 604 (2) (678 SE2d 913) (2009). Given the volume of testimony and evidence offered at trial and Detective Shaw's significant role in the investigation, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing him to remain in the courtroom. See id. 4. Appellant contends the trial court erred by allowing certain exhibits to go out with the jury during deliberations in violation of the continuing witness rule. See generally Davis v. State, 285 Ga. 343 (8) (676 SE2d 215) (2009). See also Milich, Georgia Rules of Evidence (2nd ed.),

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