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Final Copy 290 Ga. 311 S11A1364. JEFFERS v. THE STATE. THOMPSON, Justice. Appellant Eliot Ellorton Jeffers was convicted of malice murder and other related offenses in connection with the stabbing death of Jocilyn Dawn Williams and the aggravated assault of Daniel J. Stringfellow.1 On appeal, Jeffers challenges certain evidentiary rulings of the trial court, and he asserts that he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel. Finding no error, we affirm. Viewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that Williams rushed into a fast-food restaurant managed by Stringfellow, her boyfriend, and asked to hide in his office. She explained that Jeffers, her ex-

On January 25, 2007, a Cobb County grand jury returned an indictment charging Jeffers with malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of an aggravated assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of an aggravated assault in connection with the stabbing death of Jocilyn Dawn Williams, aggravated assault and aggravated battery of Daniel J. Stringfellow, and possession of a knife during the commission of the aggravated assault of Stringfellow. The crimes occurred on October 30, 2006. Trial commenced on November 3, 2008, and on November 13, 2008, a jury found Jeffers guilty as charged. He was sentenced on December 19, 2008 to life imprisonment for malice murder, 20 consecutive years for aggravated assault, 20 consecutive years for aggravated battery, plus five consecutive years for each of the weapons offenses. The felony murder count was vacated under Malcolm v. State, 263 Ga. 369 (434 SE2d 479) (1993). Jeffers filed a motion for new trial on December 23, 2008, which was amended on August 30, 2010, and denied on September 28, 2010. A notice of appeal was filed on October 13, 2010. The appeal was docketed to the September 2011 term of this Court and was orally argued on September 20, 2011.

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boyfriend, was following her. Stringfellow took Williams to the office and allowed her to remain there while he returned to his duties in the dining room. Moments later, Jeffers entered, approached Stringfellow and another employee, and asked if they had seen Williams. When they denied seeing her, Jeffers left. After ascertaining that Jeffers had left the parking area, Stringfellow walked Williams to her car. Williams returned to the restaurant about two hours later. She was seated with Stringfellow in a booth when Jeffers entered, approached Williams, and asked her to go outside. Williams refused. Jeffers then left the restaurant, circled around the building, and minutes later reentered through the back door. He approached the booth, wielded a large knife, and then fatally stabbed Williams in the chest, and injured Stringfellow as he came to her defense. Jeffers was subdued by Stringfellow and other employees and held until the police arrived. The entire attack was filmed on video surveillance cameras. 1. When construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Jeffers guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted, and to reject Jeffers' insanity defense. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560)
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(1979). 2. Jeffers submits that the trial court erred by allowing the prosecutor to state, during closing arguments, that Jeffers had "flipped a bird" at someone in the courtroom during the course of the trial. On appeal, Jeffers claims that the argument was improper because there was no showing that Jeffers actually made the obscene gesture, and because the comment impugned his character. First, there was no contemporaneous objection to the argument; therefore, the issue is waived for purposes of appeal. Martin v. State, 281 Ga. 778, 780 (2) (642 SE2d 837) (2007) ("`the contemporaneous objection rule . . . provides that counsel must make a proper objection on the record at the earliest possible time to preserve for review the point of error'"). Jeffers nonetheless asserts that the court sua sponte should have prevented the jury from considering the remark under OCGA

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