MELTON, Justice.
Following a jury trial, Shawn Kitchens was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and participation in criminal street gang activity.
1. In the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that, on the evening of July 27, 2010, Tavish Faulks and Emanuel Stroud went to Edward Collier's "convenience store" operated out of Collier's residence. When they arrived, Kitchens, who had been picked up earlier by Collier, was sitting outside on the porch with his co-defendants, Travis Taylor, Shemarques Watkins, and Jerald Johnson.
With regard to gang activity, Detective Sedrick Pinson testified that gangs in Macon were known for acts of violence such as murder, shootings, and car jackings, and with every major gang-related case the police had investigated recently, a social media website had fueled the violence between gangs. As stated, there was also evidence that Kitchens was associated with one gang and that Stroud was associated with another. In addition, Collier testified that bringing Kitchens and Watkins to his home had been a bad idea, because they were not welcome on that side of town. Collier further testified that bringing the two men into that neighborhood likely "started the whole thing." Watkins testified in a similar manner.
This evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find Kitchens guilty of all the crimes for which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). See also Jones v. State, 318 Ga.App. 26(1)(b), 733 S.E.2d 72 (2012).
3. Kitchens argues that the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion to sever his trial from his co-defendant, contending that his case was harmed by antagonistic defenses. We disagree.
It is well-settled that
Krause v. State, 286 Ga. 745, 749(5), 691 S.E.2d 211 (2010). "The burden is on the defendant requesting the severance to do more than raise the possibility that a separate trial would give him a better chance of acquittal. He must make a clear showing [that a joint trial would lead to] prejudice and a consequent denial of due process." (Footnote and punctuation omitted.) Character v. State, 285 Ga. 112, 118(5), 674 S.E.2d 280 (2009) (punctuation and footnote omitted).
In this case, there was little likelihood of jury confusion, as there were ultimately only two defendants and there was no difference in the law applied to either of them. See Moon v. State, 288 Ga. 508, 510(2), 705 S.E.2d 649 (2011) (holding that "there was no likelihood of confusion by the jury as to the evidence and the law because there were only two defendants `who were jointly indicted for the same offenses, which involved the same witnesses, and the evidence indicated that they acted in concert'") (citation omitted). In addition, the jury returned a separate verdict for each defendant and considered each indictment separately. See Thorpe v. State, 285 Ga. 604, 609, 678 S.E.2d 913 (2009) ("There is likewise no indication that the jury confused the evidence or law; all three defendants were charged with identical crimes, and the jury, in reaching different verdicts as to each co-defendant, proved itself amply capable of distinguishing the evidence relevant to each"). Lastly, Kitchens has failed to show how his defenses were antagonistic towards his co-defendant. Even if he had, however, the presence of antagonistic defenses "alone ... is insufficient to require severance, because `unless there is a showing of resulting prejudice, antagonistic defenses do not automatically require a severance.'" (Citation omitted.) Herbert v. State, 288 Ga. 843, 845, 708 S.E.2d 260 (2011). No such showing has been made. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for severance.
4. Kitchens contends that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to investigate and call Adrian Stokes and Louis Frazier as witnesses during trial. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668(II), 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). However, contrary to Kitchens's claims, it cannot be said that trial counsel failed to investigate these witnesses. Testimony at the motion for new trial hearing indicates that the witnesses were brought to trial counsel's office and that they were questioned by her. Moreover, Kitchens presented no testimony from either witness at the motion for new trial hearing. As a result, Kitchens merely speculates that these witnesses may have provided information beneficial to his case, which is not sufficient to support a claim of ineffective assistance. See McDaniel v.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur.