In April 2008, Marcus Turner was tried by a jury and convicted of burglary, two counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the armed robbery conviction, concurrent twenty-year sentences for the burglary, kidnapping, and aggravated assault convictions, and five-year sentences for each of the three convictions for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, to run concurrently with each other and consecutively to the life sentence. Turner appeals all of his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial. He contends that the trial court erred by allowing the State to use his silence against him, allowing witness statements to go out with the jury in violation of the continuing witness rule, and incorrectly charging the jury on kidnapping. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.
On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 III B 99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. So viewed, the evidence showed that on November 16, 2007, Kendra Andrews was in her house with her boyfriend, DeRico Lewis, and their baby. When Andrews heard a knock at the door, she picked up her baby and opened the door slightly before two men pushed it in towards her. As she tried to push back, one man pulled out a gun and the other man, whom Andrews identified as Turner, grabbed her by the neck. While maintaining a grip on her neck, Turner pushed Andrews, who was still holding her baby, back to the bedroom and onto the bed. Turner continued to hold her neck while she was on the bed and held a liquor bottle over her and the baby in a threatening manner. The man with the gun, identified as Montrelle Teasley, asked Andrews where the money was, and she told him that her purse was on the dresser. When the men noticed that the shower water was running, they asked Andrews who was in there and she replied that it was her boyfriend. Teasley then went into the bathroom. When Andrews asked Turner not to hurt her boyfriend, he responded, “shut up, bitch,” and punched her in the face. She then asked him not to hit her baby and he said, “fuck that baby.”
