After a jury trial, Appellant Lance Coleman Rockholt was found guilty of malice murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Appellant to life imprisonment for malice murder and a consecutive term of five years for the weapons charge. Appellant appeals after the denial of a motion for new trial. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that on October 28, 2005, Mark Anthony Pickett attended a school festival with his six-year-old son Kenneth and his 13-year-old daughter Sydney. As Pickett was driving home from the festival with his children in his pickup truck, he nearly collided with another car. Subsequently, this car began to tailgate the truck, flash its lights, and honk its horn. Pickett stopped his truck in the roadway and, leaving his kids in his truck, approached the car behind him to confront the driver. He was then shot three times and fell to the roadway. The car pulled around the Pickett truck and fled the scene. A witness heard an angry male voice inside the car shouting. Another vehicle drove by in the opposite direction and ran over Pickett’s body where it lay in the roadway. Pickett died from a gunshot wound to the heart.
On November 8, 2005, the Walker County Sheriff’s office received information that the killer was named Lance and that he could be found at a residence in Tennessee. Two Walker County detectives traveled to the residence, knocked on the door, and asked for Lance when the front door was opened. The owner of the residence answered the door and pointed to Appellant, who was sitting on a sofa in view of the front door. After the detective called for local law enforcement assistance, a search was conducted, and a .22 caliber Beretta handgun was found underneath the sofa cushion where Appellant had been seated. Later analysis of the handgun revealed that it was the one used to kill Pickett. Appellant’s girlfriend, Leah Hird, was also present at the Tennessee residence, and she informed the officers that she was in the car with Appellant and witnessed him shoot Pickett. After being advised of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U. S. 436 86 SC 1602, 16 LE2d 694 1966, Appellant admitted that he shot Pickett. Several of Appellant’s friends stated that he casually and laughingly mentioned that he had shot Pickett in front of his children.
