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Final Copy 289 Ga. 773 S11A0872. SIMMONS v. THE STATE.

NAHMIAS, Justice. Artez Simmons appeals his conviction for murdering Antoine Tolbert. He argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict and that his trial counsel was ineffective in several ways. We affirm. 1. (a) The evidence at trial, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, showed the following.1 On the evening of July 7, 2007, Brianna Jones hosted several people in her Fulton County apartment: her relatives, Appellant and co-indictee Jesse Watson; her girlfriend, Whitney Rainey; and the victim, who was a friend of Rainey's. After a night of drinking, Appellant, Watson, and the victim began to argue about whether a certain rap artist was broke. At some point, Appellant used the word "bitch" or "whore."

The crime was committed on July 7, 2007. On July 22, 2008, Appellant was jointly indicted with Jesse Watson for malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated battery. He was tried separately, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on all counts on February 27, 2009. The trial court sentenced Appellant to life in prison for the malice murder conviction, with the felony murder conviction vacated by operation of law and the aggravated battery conviction merging. On March 10, 2009, Appellant filed a motion for a new trial, which he amended on September 15, 2010. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion on January 27, 2011. Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal, and the case was docketed in this Court for the April 2011 term and orally argued on May 16, 2011.

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Rainey responded that if Appellant did not want to be called a "bitch," he should not call women "whores." Appellant said that he and Watson should not be called "bitches." Rainey then called Watson one, and as she started to walk away, Watson punched her. The victim then stood up and said, "It's not fixin' to go like that, man." Appellant punched him in the mouth, causing it to bleed. The victim told Appellant he did not want to fight, but Watson then began hitting him. Jones ordered everyone out of her apartment and led the way out the door, after which Rainey pulled the victim outside with her. On the way out, Watson punched the victim in the back of the head. He fell to the ground, and Watson then began kicking him repeatedly in the head. Rainey saw Jones unsuccessfully try to stop Watson, as Appellant stood nearby and encouraged Watson to "beat his ass." (Rainey later told the police that Appellant kicked the victim as well, although at trial she said she was mistaken on this point.) The victim lost consciousness. Jones went inside and called 911, telling the operator "they" had knocked the victim out. Rainey tried to intervene, and Watson turned to hit her, but Appellant stopped him. Appellant then said "let's go." Watson told Appellant to go inside and get something. Appellant
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did so, after which he and Watson walked to Appellant's car, and Appellant drove Watson away from the apartment. Emergency personnel arrived to find the victim unconscious, looking as though he had been thrown "through a windshield." He never regained consciousness, remaining in a vegetative state until nine months later, when his family removed his feeding tube and he died. The cause of death was the delayed effects of or complications related to blunt-force head trauma. (b) The evidence presented at trial and summarized above, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, was sufficient to authorize a rational jury to find Appellant guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. 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)). Although Appellant was not the person who kicked the victim into a vegetative state, he was an equally guilty party to the crime because he intentionally aided, abetted, and encouraged it. See OCGA

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