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Davis v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia
Sep 5, 1979
259 S.E.2d 207 (Ga. Ct. App. 1979)

Opinion

58126.

ARGUED JULY 2, 1979.

DECIDED SEPTEMBER 5, 1979.

Attempted armed robbery, etc. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Holt, Senior Judge.

J. Douglas Willix, for appellant.

Lewis R. Slaton, District Attorney, Joseph J. Drolet, Benjamin H. Oehlert, III, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellee.


Davis was convicted of criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, carrying a pistol without a license, and carrying a concealed weapon. After denial of his motion for new trial, Davis appeals and enumerates here — as in his motion for new trial — only the general grounds.

The state's evidence showed that Davis, along with co-defendant Love, entered the victim's place of business appearing to be prospective customers. When Love sought to purchase a soft drink, the victim took Love's money and, as he proceeded to the cash register to make change, both defendants approached him. Hearing one of the defendants state, "This is it," the victim looked up to see a gun in the hands of Davis. Reacting with indignation rather than fear, the victim successfully took the weapon from Davis and fired at Davis and Love, at which time both defendants attempted to exit the victim's premises and were apprehended in an alley adjacent to the victim's place of business.

Although Davis did not testify, he relied upon evidence offered by Love depicting a scenario wherein the victim was engaged in illegal gambling with the defendants entering the victim's establishment solely for the purpose of collecting a winning lottery ticket. On this basis, defendants sought to convince the jury that the victim was the aggressor. However, the guilty verdict indicates that the jury was unpersuaded; and this verdict must be upheld if there was evidence supporting the state's version of the occurrence. Harris v. State, 149 Ga. App. 374 ( 254 S.E.2d 518) (1979); Walker v. State, 146 Ga. App. 555 ( 246 S.E.2d 737) (1978); Bethay v. State, 235 Ga. 371 ( 219 S.E.2d 743) (1975). While the jury can and must weigh and analyze the evidence, an appellate court, in reviewing on the general grounds, is restricted to determining if there is sufficient evidence to support the verdict of the jury. Kendrick v. State, 146 Ga. App. 513 ( 246 S.E.2d 505) (1978); Minor v. State, 139 Ga. App. 168 ( 228 S.E.2d 33) (1976). Here the evidence was sufficient to authorize the jury to find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Davis was guilty of the crimes charged and, therefore, his convictions must be affirmed.

Judgment affirmed. Deen, C. J., and Shulman, J., concur.


ARGUED JULY 2, 1979 — DECIDED SEPTEMBER 5, 1979.


Summaries of

Davis v. State

Court of Appeals of Georgia
Sep 5, 1979
259 S.E.2d 207 (Ga. Ct. App. 1979)
Case details for

Davis v. State

Case Details

Full title:DAVIS v. THE STATE

Court:Court of Appeals of Georgia

Date published: Sep 5, 1979

Citations

259 S.E.2d 207 (Ga. Ct. App. 1979)
259 S.E.2d 207

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