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Martinez v. State

The trial court erred in not applying the rule of lenity, because statutory law established different punishments for the same offense.

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Marco Martinez appeals from a judgment of conviction and the denial of his motion for new trial. He was convicted of robbery by sudden snatching, four counts of forgery in the first degree, and giving a false name to law enforcement. On appeal, he contends the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction of robbery, that the rule of lenity should be applied to his convictions of forgery, and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons shown below, we affirm his convictions of robbery and giving false information to law enforcement, but we reverse his convictions of forgery and remand for resentencing on those counts.

On criminal appeal, appellant is no longer presumed innocent and all of the evidence is to be viewed in the light most favorable to the jury verdict. This Court does not reconsider evidence or attempt to confirm the accuracy of testimony. Assessing a witness’s credibility is the responsibility of the factfinder, not this Court. Batten v. State, 295 Ga. 442, 443 1 761 SE2d 70 2014 citations omitted. Instead, we review the case to determine if the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, supports the verdict. Willis v. State, 263 Ga. 597, 598 1 436 SE2d 204 1993, citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SCt 2781, 61 LEd2d 560 1979. Upon review of the sufficiency of the evidence, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Russu v. State, 321 Ga. App. 695, 696 1 742 SE2d 511 2013 punctuation and footnote omitted; emphasis in original.

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