BENHAM, Justice.
Appellants Atu Lewis (Lewis) and Jacque Dominique Clark (Clark) were convicted of murder and related crimes stemming from a home invasion that took place in Clayton County.
The underlying facts show that on the morning of June 21, 2007, Lewis, Clark, Marcel Brower, and Hilarie Ford acted on a plan to steal drugs and money from the victim Troy Marine. Brower testified at trial
After entering the house, the men encountered the victim's three children (two boys who were 11 and 10 years-old and a five year-old girl) in an upstairs bedroom and Brower moved the children downstairs, making them lie down on the floor with pillows over their heads. Clark watched over the kids. The victim was oblivious to the circumstances of his children because Ford had the music playing loudly in the victim's bedroom and because the bedroom door was locked. Brower took the victim's younger son by gunpoint, brought him upstairs to where Lewis was standing, and they made the boy knock on the bedroom door until the victim opened it. When the victim opened the door and saw the men with guns and his son, he immediately started throwing punches, knocking Lewis into the wall. In response, Lewis shot the victim. After the shooting, the victim's oldest son testified that the three men fled the house through the front door. A next door neighbor testified that she saw three men exiting the victim's house and two of them enter a vehicle, while the other man ran up the street. Brower confirmed that he and Lewis drove away in the vehicle, picking up Clark who had run up the street on foot. Ford, who had been left behind at the victim's house, called Clark who instructed her to wipe away fingerprints at the scene. After driving for a time and letting Clark out of the car, Brower and Lewis circled back and picked-up Ford in a different subdivision. When they picked her up, Ford had with her a pound of marijuana from the victim's house which Brower later took to sell. Clark's roommate testified that Clark called him that same day and said he had just killed somebody and asked the roommate for a ride.
After the perpetrators left the house, the victim's children ran across the street to a neighbor's house and called police. At the scene, the police recovered a 9 mm shell casing. They also obtained latent palm and finger prints from the scene and the car used during the crime. The palm and finger prints were eventually found to match the known palm and finger prints of Brower and Lewis. Blood evidence recovered from the car matched Lewis's DNA and was consistent with Brower's testimony that Lewis injured his hand when he broke the window to enter the victim's house. Several witnesses, including Brower, testified that at the time
The medical examiner testified that the shooter was within four feet of the victim when he was shot and the bullet pierced the victim's heart, diaphragm, and liver causing his death.
1. Lewis claims the evidence was insufficient to convict him for malice murder and the other charges for which he was convicted based on the fact that the State's key witness was Brower, an accomplice to the crime. See OCGA § 24-4-8 (2012).
2. Lewis alleges the trial court erred when it allowed the admission of testimony which he contends improperly placed his character into evidence and erred when it failed to grant a mistrial based on the State's violation of discovery rules in regard to the information elicited from the testimony. At trial, Brower testified Lewis told him that Lewis and Clark had a conversation about killing Ford, purportedly to prevent her from telling police about the shooting. Lewis argues he was unaware of Brower's statement about the alleged conversation because the State failed to produce it during discovery. The transcript shows prosecutors learned of this alleged conversation between Lewis and Clark when they interviewed Brower during their trial preparation a few weeks prior to trial. Rather than precluding Brower's testimony or granting a mistrial, the trial court allowed counsel for Lewis and Clark to interview Brower about the alleged conversation between Lewis and Clark. After interviewing Brower, counsel did not posit any further objections concerning the testimony.
a. The testimony at issue was admissible even if it incidentally placed Lewis's character into evidence. "Any statement or conduct of a person, indicating a consciousness of guilt, where such person is, at the time or thereafter, charged with or suspected of crime, is admissible against him upon his trial for committing it." Bridges v. State,
b. Lewis contends he was entitled to a mistrial because the State failed to provide Brower's statement about Lewis's and Clark's alleged conversation during discovery. See OCGA § 17-16-6.
3. Lewis contends the record is incomplete because the charge conference between the attorneys and the trial court was not transcribed. Any omission from the record is a matter for the trial court. See OCGA § 5-6-41(f). Since it appears Lewis did not pursue this matter with the trial court, the issue is not before this Court for review.
4. Clark claims the evidence was insufficient to convict him on the basis that Brower's testimony was uncorroborated. This enumeration of error lacks merit because there was slight evidence corroborating Brower's testimony that Clark participated in the crimes leading to the victim's death. See Moore v. State, supra, 288 Ga. at 189, 702 S.E.2d 176. Witnesses in addition to Brower testified that Clark had dread locks at the time the crimes occurred. When Clark was apprehended in Laurens County a week after the victim was killed, however, he had a bad hair cut and hair clippers were found in the trunk of his car, which was evidence indicating Clark altered his appearance in an attempt to avoid detection by police. Cell phone records showed Ford called Clark shortly after the shooting, which evidence corroborated Brower's testimony that Clark told Ford over the phone to wipe away any fingerprints at the victim's house. Clark's roommate testified that Clark called him on the day of the shooting and said he had killed someone. The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant Clark guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia, supra, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560.
5. Clark contends a picture of Lewis's hand taken by the lead detective in the case should not have been admitted because it had writing on it by the lead detective. This enumeration of error is not properly before this Court for review because Clark did not object to the admission of the evidence. See Castillo v. State, 281 Ga. 579(6), 642 S.E.2d 8 (2007).
6. During the prosecutor's opening statement, he used a powerpoint presentation that included two photographs of the victim's house. Clark objected to the use of the photographs because they had not yet
Judgments affirmed.
All the Justices concur.