Preview:

Final Copy 289 Ga. 154

S11A0469. NORRIS v. THE STATE.

CARLEY, Presiding Justice.

Appellant Damien Norris and his co-defendant Demarcus Armour were tried jointly before a jury. Both were found guilty of the felony murder of Bernard Glass, Jr., the underlying felony of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Armour was also found guilty of malice murder. The separate aggravated assault count against Norris was merged into the felony murder verdict. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Norris to life imprisonment for murder. Although the trial court orally sentenced Norris to a consecutive five-year term for the weapons charge, the written judgment reflects a sentence of life imprisonment for both the murder and the weapons offense. A motion for new trial was denied, and Norris appeals.*

The murder occurred on April 3, 2007, and the grand jury returned an indictment on August 10, 2007. The jury found Norris guilty on June 18, 2009, and, on the next day, the trial court entered the judgments of conviction and
*

1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that, a short time after Montrez Jones' brother shot Armour's brother at a housing complex, Jones returned to the complex. Armour and Norris began shooting across a street at Jones, who returned fire. The victim was an innocent 16-year-old bystander who was killed during the shootout. The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Norris 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); McKee v. State, 277 Ga. 577, 578 (1) (591 SE2d 814) (2004). However, the trial court's sentence of Norris to life imprisonment for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony far exceeds the statutory maximum term-of-years sentence. See OCGA

Download S11A0469. NORRIS v. THE STATE.pdf

Georgia Law