Israel Moses Jones was tried by a Chatham County jury and convicted of armed robbery,1 burglary,2 and impersonating a police officer.3 He now appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, asserting that the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress the eyewitness identifications of him resulting from allegedly impermissibly suggestive photographic lineups and the evidence seized as the result of an illegal search. Jones further contends that the trial court erred by refusing to admit evidence that, he claims, would have supported his sole defense of mistaken identity and in denying his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendant and brother, Robert Jones. Finally, Jones claims that there existed a fatal variance between the indictment and the evidence that renders the evidence insufficient to sustain his conviction for armed robbery. We find no error and affirm.
On appeal from a criminal conviction, the defendant is no longer entitled to a presumption of innocence and we therefore construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict. Martinez v. State, 306 Ga. App. 512, 514 702 SE2d 747 2010. So viewed, the record shows that on the morning of May 31, 2008, a man dressed in a dark jacket and carrying a black briefcase entered a local grocery store known as Chu’s Market. The man spoke with the owner of the market, Chu Ping, identified himself as “Detective John,” and told Mr. Chu that he needed to speak with the owner in the store’s office. Mr. Chu obliged, but once the men were in the office, “Detective John” removed a gun from his briefcase and robbed Mr. Chu, taking all of the money in both the store’s safe and Mr. Chu’s wallet. After the robber left, Mr. Chu retrieved his own gun and ran outside. There he saw a car parked in front of his store, with the robber standing at its passenger door and a second man standing at the driver’s door. Mr. Chu fired his gun towards the car and both men fled on foot. Police later showed Mr. Chu a photographic line up from which he identified Jones as the man who robbed him.
