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Final Copy 290 Ga. 500 S11A1917. INGRAM v. THE STATE.

CARLEY, Presiding Justice. After a jury trial, Appellant Herman Ingram was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment for the murder count and five years to be served consecutively for the weapons offense. The aggravated assault count merged into the felony murder conviction. Appellant appeals after the denial of a motion for new trial.* 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that on the night of July 2, 2006, Appellant attended a party in the basement of a friend's home. According to two eyewitnesses, Appellant, who was visibly

The crimes occurred on July 2, 2006, and the grand jury returned the indictment on September 29, 2006. The jury found Appellant guilty on April 18, 2008, and on that same day, the trial court entered the judgments of conviction and sentences. The motion for new trial was filed on April 22, 2008, amended on March 18, 2010 and April 1, 2011, and denied on May 26, 2011. Appellant filed the notice of appeal on June 9, 2011. The case was docketed in this Court for the September 2011 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.
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intoxicated, repeatedly made insulting physical advances toward the victim, Gloria Cochran. When he refused to stop, Ms. Cochran slapped him in the face. In response, Appellant withdrew a knife from his right pocket and stabbed Ms. Cochran one time in the chest. Appellant appeared to be about to stab the victim again when guests intervened and subdued him. Ms. Cochran subsequently died from her injuries. The evidence was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find Appellant 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). 2. During the jury trial, the jury asked during its deliberations, "If we find the defendant guilty of felony murder, do we have to find him not guilty of voluntary manslaughter?" The prosecution requested that the jury be told to make a decision based on the fact that the crimes are mutually exclusive. Defense counsel preferred no response, but requested that the trial court recharge the jury on voluntary manslaughter if an answer was to be given. After further consultation, the trial court stated to the jury that "[m]y answer to you is no, provided you have considered all of the charges as I have previously instructed you."
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Subsequently, the jury returned the first verdict which found Appellant guilty of both felony murder and voluntary manslaughter. The trial court did not publish aloud to the prosecution or the defense the results of the first verdict. However, the trial court had the following conversation with the foreperson with both the prosecution and the defense present:

The court: I see that you have answered the voluntary manslaughter count as well as the felony murder count. The foreperson: Yes, sir. The court: Your previous question to me gave me some sense of what the jury might be doing, but I'm a little uncertain as to whether or not you're finding him guilty of the lesser offense or the greater offense. The foreperson: We are

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