Joseph Brunson was convicted of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Derek Milton in Savannah.1 The trial court gave jury instructions on accident and voluntary manslaughter, but refused to give a requested charge on self-defense. Because the evidence did not support the giving of the charge, the trial court did not err in denying Brunson’s request for a jury instruction on self-defense. Therefore, we affirm.
1. The evidence presented at trial shows that an intoxicated Brunson attempted to enter a Savannah nightclub with a pint bottle of gin on the morning of Saturday, January 10, 2009. Milton, who worked at the nightclub, searched Brunson and denied him entry because the club did not allow outside liquor. Brunson begged to be let in and, when told to leave, became belligerent, telling Milton, “Okay, I got you. I’ll be back.” Approximately 15 to 30 minutes later, Earl Davis, another employee, and Leon Smalls, a patron, were inside the club talking when they heard a commotion outside and someone saying, “no, no, no, man, no, no.” Running out the front door, they saw Brunson straddled on a bicycle at the street corner and holding a small black revolver in his hand. Milton rushed at Brunson and grabbed him by the arm or wrist, and they fell over the bicycle. They got back up and started tussling, arguing, and struggling, backing up to the side door of the building. When Brunson’s arm got free, he stepped back and shot Milton. As Milton was falling, he grabbed Brunson in a bear hug. When Davis pulled Milton off Brunson, Brunson got up, said he “didn’t shoot anyone,” and threw down his gun. Davis and Smalls stopped him from running away and held him down until police arrived a minute or two later. A recording of the 911 call shows that Smalls called at 1:47 a.m. to report a person with a pistol. He told the operator that nobody had been shot yet and then asked the operator if she heard “that.” She responded that she had and testified at trial that she had heard a single gunshot. Police found the revolver on the sidewalk several feet from the victim; it had been fired once. The firearm examiner testified that the bullet recovered from Milton’s body had been fired from the revolver. Both Davis and Smalls testified that they did not see Milton carrying a gun that night. After reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s determination of guilt, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found Brunson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes of which he was convicted. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SCt 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
