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Final Copy 288 Ga. 109 S10A1040. LANIER v. THE STATE

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice. Appellant Raynardo Lanier was convicted of malice murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault in connection with the beating death of David Rigdon. Finding no error in the denial of Lanier's motion for new trial,1 we affirm. 1. The evidence authorized the jury to find that Lanier and the victim spent time together over Labor Day weekend in 2006. The victim purchased crack cocaine numerous times during this period from dealer Wamikea Mikell, with the final sale occurring on Sunday afternoon. Lanier and the victim

The armed robbery and aggravated assault occurred on or about September 4, 2006 and the victim died on September 6, 2006. Lanier was indicted in Candler County on August 23, 2007 and charged with malice murder, felony murder based on aggravated assault, armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was tried before a jury and on February 6, 2008 found guilty of malice murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault. In an order entered the same day, the trial court merged the aggravated assault conviction with the conviction for malice murder and sentenced Lanier to life imprisonment as a recidivist plus a consecutive life sentence as a recidivist for armed robbery. Lanier's motion for new trial was filed on February 20, 2008, amended on January 12, 2010, and denied on February 10, 2010; his notice of appeal was timely filed. The appeal was docketed in this Court for the April 2010 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.

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indicated that they would come to Jimmy Lee Scott's house that evening, where Mikell was cooking dinner, but Lanier arrived alone. Lanier asked for a hammer; he left the house for a while, returned with a wallet draped over the top of his sweat pants and asked Mikell for a ride to meet his wife. Along the way, Mikell stopped the car and Lanier got out. After a brief period of time, Lanier got back in the car, and the two returned to Scott's house. The victim was found lying face down in a pool of blood inside the front door of his residence in the early hours of Tuesday morning and was transported to the hospital. Lanier's name came up when investigating officers spoke to those at the scene, and it was determined that he was in an adjacent apartment. A GBI special agent went to the apartment and talked to Lanier, who consented when the agent asked to look at his clothing that was lying on a couch. Lanier also retrieved a pair of his shoes from the side of the couch, and the agent noticed three small blood spatter droplets on one shoe. The victim died the following day from multiple severe blunt impact injuries to the head, with wounds consistent with the use of a hammer as a weapon. Both Lanier and Mikell showed investigating officers the spot at which they had stopped on their Sunday night drive, and the victim's wallet was
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recovered at that location. Subsequent DNA analysis determined that the blood on Lanier's shoe was that of the victim. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, we conclude that the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find Lanier 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). 2. Lanier contends that the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion for a mistrial after an investigating officer testified on cross-examination that Lanier gave the officer a statement "right after he had talked with his parole officer."2 Although Lanier argues that this reference to parole constituted an impermissible comment on his character, see OCGA

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