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Final Copy 287 Ga. 861

S10A1053. COOPER v. THE STATE. BENHAM, Justice. On September 28, 2004, appellant Roderick Cooper1 rode in a car with Carla Simmons, Torrell Young, and Donnie Murphy, to the home of Paul Rucker in Banks County. Simmons and Young went to the house, and Simmons offered to have sex with Rucker for money. Young, Cooper and Murphy drove up the road for a few minutes. Upon returning, Young and Murphy entered Rucker's house while appellant stayed in the car. Young and Murphy went into the bedroom and Simmons ran out of the house. Murphy assaulted Rucker with a bottle, while Young ransacked the bedroom looking for Rucker's wallet. Simmons testified that she urged appellant to go into the house to see about

Appellant was tried with Torrell Young and Carla Simmons in January 2007. (Donnie Murphy pled guilty and was not tried.) On January 31, 2007, a jury convicted appellant, as a party to the crime, of malice murder, felony murder (aggravated assault), felony murder (conspiracy to distribute cocaine), two counts of burglary, attempted armed robbery (with a bottle), aggravated battery, aggravated assault (hands and feet), one count of tampering with evidence (bottle); and, in his own capacity, convicted him of armed robbery (with a handgun), attempted armed robbery (with a handgun), two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of tampering with evidence (clothes and handgun), conspiracy to distribute cocaine, and carrying a firearm by a first offender probationer. Appellant was sentenced to life in prison for malice murder and armed robbery, twenty years consecutive for each count of burglary, ten years concurrent for each count of attempted armed robbery, ten years concurrent for each count of tampering with evidence, and five years consecutive for carrying a firearm by a first offender probationer. All other counts merged or were vacated as a matter of law. Appellant filed a motion for new trial on February 12, 2007, and amended the motion on July 27, 2009. The trial court denied the motion on August 6, 2009 and appellant timely filed his notice of appeal on August 28, 2009. The case was docketed to the April 2010 term and was submitted for consideration on the briefs.

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Young and Murphy. Murphy testified that appellant entered the room and pointed his gun at Rucker and asked for money and then Young took the gun and demanded money from Rucker. Appellant and Young left the bedroom,2 found a computer in the living room, took it outside, and placed it in the car. Meanwhile, Murphy strangled Rucker to death. The four drove off, and Murphy threw the bottle he used to assault the victim outside the car window onto a roadway near the victim's house. The four then drove to a gas station where Murphy wiped the blood from his person, discarded his bloody garments and put on a pair of pants appellant gave him. Upon leaving the gas station, Young drove to an acquaintance's house to sell the stolen computer and used the money raised therefrom to buy crack for himself, Murphy and Simmons, who were all addicts. The next day, Young took Murphy's shoes and disposed of them. At trial, the medical examiner testified that the cause of the victim's death was blunt force trauma to the head complicated by asphyxia by manual strangulation. 1. The evidence as described above was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt appellant guilty as a party to the crime of murder, burglary, tampering with evidence (bottle), armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery (with a bottle). Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979); OCGA

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