Following trial, a jury convicted Ronald Adams on one count each of burglary, theft by taking, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine. Adams appeals his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred in admitting a witness’s out-of-court statements into evidence and in dismissing a juror ex parte just prior to the beginning of deliberations. For the reasons set forth infra , we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict,1 the evidence demonstrates that on the night of July 17, 2007, a local scrap metal company was burglarized with the thieves stealing scrap metal worth several thousand dollars. Surveillance footage recorded that night by the scrap metal company’s video-surveillance cameras showed a person climbing over a fence into the back of the company’s property, throwing a significant amount of copper wiring and other metals belonging to the company over the fence, climbing back over the fence, and then escaping in an SUV driven by a second person. And although a local police detective reviewed the surveillance footage the next day, he was unable to identify the thieves.
Nearly two weeks later, just after midnight on July 30, 2007, the scrap metal company was once again burglarized. This time the thieves, who apparently used a bolt cutter to cut the lock on the fence in the back of the company’s property, stole more scrap metal, a metal cutting torch, and several propane tanks that powered the torch. However, after the first burglary, the scrap metal company installed additional surveillance cameras, which provided a better view of the second burglary. And indeed, upon reviewing the surveillance footage of the thieves involved in the second burglary later that morning after it occurred, the same investigating detective who had reviewed the first surveillance footage now recognized one of the perpetrators as Adams, whom he had known for several years. Additionally, the detective recognized the SUV shown in the surveillance footage as belonging to Adams.
