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Final Copy 290 Ga. 576 S11A1829. JONES v. THE STATE. NAHMIAS, Justice. Appellant Thomas Jones challenges his convictions for malice murder and other offenses stemming from the shooting death of Julius McReynolds.1 We affirm. 1. The evidence presented at trial, viewed in the light most favorable

to the verdict, showed the following. On the night of October 27-28, 2007, Appellant and the victim were at a crowded nightclub in Statesboro, Georgia. Appellant was wearing a distinctive orange shirt. Around 12:30 a.m., Appellant and the victim began arguing, which attracted a number of their friends. The argument escalated into a fight involving Appellant, the victim, and their

The crimes occurred on October 28, 2007. On January 9, 2008, Appellant was indicted for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, making false statements, discharge of a firearm on or near a public highway, possession of a deadly weapon at a public gathering, and carrying a weapon within a school safety zone. A jury convicted Appellant on all counts on October 23, 2008. The trial court sentenced Appellant to life in prison on the malice murder conviction and consecutive and concurrent terms in prison on other convictions. The felony murder conviction was vacated as a matter of law, and the court merged the aggravated assault conviction with the malice murder conviction. On November 14, 2008, Appellant filed a motion for new trial, which he later amended three times. On February 11, 2011, the trial court denied the motion, and Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. The case was docketed for the September 2011 term of this Court and was orally argued on January 23, 2012.

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friends. Club bouncers pushed the crowd outside, and the victim began running toward another nightclub located about 400 feet down the road. Appellant got a gun from his car and chased the victim, firing numerous shots. The victim was found lying in the parking lot of the other club. He had been shot three times and died from a bullet that hit his left lung and heart. Twelve shell casings were found in a dirt area in front of a building separating the nightclubs. One eyewitness said that Appellant was wearing an orange shirt and was the shooter, and two other eyewitnesses testified that the shooter was wearing an orange shirt. After the shooting, Appellant changed into a friend's striped shirt. He told the friend what to say to the police and not to worry about a gun that the police later found in Appellant's car because it was not the one used in the shooting

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