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Final Copy 288 Ga. 705 S10A1347. DOLPHY v. THE STATE. NAHMIAS, Justice. In 2008, Darrell Q. Dolphy was convicted of malice murder and other crimes arising from the shooting death of Rasheym Drummond. Dolphy appeals, and we affirm.1 1. The evidence at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the

verdict, showed the following. Around 2:30 p.m. on January 3, 2006, Dolphy chased Drummond down Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Fulton County, shooting at Drummond with a 9 mm handgun. Drummond returned fire with a .45 caliber pistol. Drummond was eventually shot and felled. Dolphy then stood over Drummond and fired several more rounds into him before fleeing in

The crimes occurred on January 3, 2006. Dolphy was indicted on December 31, 2007, for malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At the conclusion of the October 14-17, 2008 trial, the jury convicted Dolphy on all charges. The felony murder convictions were vacated by operation of law, see Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369, 372 (434 SE2d 479) (1993), and the remaining convictions, except for the conviction for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, merged for sentencing purposes, see Wiley v. State, 250 Ga. 343, 351 (296 SE2d 714) (1982). The trial court sentenced Dolphy to life in prison for malice murder plus five years consecutive for the firearm charge. Dolphy filed a motion for new trial on October 30, 2008, which he amended on December 15, 2008, and August 25, 2009. The motion was denied on November 9, 2009, and Dolphy filed a timely notice of appeal. The case was docketed in this Court for the September 2010 Term and submitted for decision on the briefs.

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a waiting green Lexus. An autopsy showed that Drummond had been shot ten times in the head, torso, and extremities, with all the bullets entering from behind and exiting through the front. Twenty minutes after the shooting, a green Lexus pulled up to Grady Hospital and dropped off Dolphy before speeding away. Dolphy had been shot twice. Dolphy told hospital personnel and the police that he did not know who shot him, that he was just walking down the street, and that he did not know if he was the target of the gunfire. The crimes occurred in broad daylight on a busy street, and multiple witnesses testified that a man matching Dolphy's description chased the victim down and shot him to death. Shell casings were found at the crime scene from Dolphy's 9 mm handgun and the victim's .45 caliber handgun. A blood trail left at the crime scene, which was matched to Dolphy through DNA testing, corroborated the testimony that Dolphy chased Drummond down before killing him. At trial, Dolphy changed his story. He claimed that he was outside a barbershop on his way to the grocery store when Drummond attempted to rob him, that he drew his 9 mm handgun to thwart the robbery, and that he only fired 2

at the victim in self-defense after the victim had already shot him twice. Dolphy denied the witnesses' testimony that he shot the victim while standing over his supine body. Dolphy said that he had lied to the police about what happened because he was scared. When viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence presented at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). See also Vega v. State, 285 Ga. 32, 33 (673 SE2d 223) (2009) ("`It was for the jury to determine the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts or inconsistencies in the evidence.'" (citation omitted)). 2. During her opening statement, the prosecutor showed the jury a

PowerPoint slide that read, "Defendant's Story Is a Lie." Dolphy objected on the ground that the prosecutor was calling his story a lie, which was a matter for the jury to decide. The court ruled that the slide was argumentative and instructed the prosecutor to take it down, and she did. Seconds later, the prosecutor put up another PowerPoint slide that read, "People Lie When They 3

Are Guilty." Dolphy again objected, and the court again told the prosecutor to take the slide down. Dolphy contends that the slides violated his right to due process by depriving him of a fair trial and that they impermissibly expressed the prosecutor's personal belief in Dolphy's guilt. (a) When Dolphy objected, the trial court took immediate

corrective action, ordering that the slides be taken down, and Dolphy did not seek additional relief in the form of a curative instruction or a mistrial. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the slides were inappropriately argumentative for opening statement. The trial court instructed the jury before opening statements and again after the close of the evidence that the lawyers' opening statements are not evidence. The jury was also charged on the defendant's presumption of innocence and the State's burden of proof. Accordingly, the trial court did not deprive Dolphy of a fair trial by failing to declare a mistrial sua sponte. (b) Dolphy's second argument involves the same two slides and

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