Jones v. State

A discrepancy in nomenclature between the indictment, which charged the defendant with armed robbery with the use of a pellet pistol, and the evidence, which showed that the perpetrator wielded a BB gun, did not constitute a fatal variance.

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A Camden County jury found George Jones guilty of armed robbery1 in 2001. Following his conviction, Jones filed a direct appeal. In an unpublished opinion, this Court affirmed Jones’s conviction and remanded the case to allow the trial court an opportunity to address his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Jones now appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion for new trial based on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict.2 So viewed, the evidence presented at trial showed that on March 29, 2001, a man, identified as Jones, was shopping at a Belk’s store. Jones brought some merchandise to the counter and asked the salesperson to remove the security tags while he picked up an additional item. When Jones returned with a shirt, he told the salesperson not to ring up the items, but simply to put them in a bag. As Jones made his request, he lifted up his shirt revealing a gun, which he had in the waistband of his pants. Jones then demanded all of the money from the cash register, which totaled $269.

As Jones left the store, another employee followed him and witnessed him driving away in a maroon pick-up truck with chrome tail light covers. Police dispatched a lookout bulletin for the truck. Shortly thereafter, a Georgia State Patrol Trooper saw the truck, and he followed Jones to a gas station in Florida. The trooper approached the truck and ordered Jones to keep his hands on the steering wheel. Jones then threw a gun out the window and sped off. The trooper retrieved the weapon, and eventually, Jones’s truck was forced off the road in Florida. The arresting officers discovered two shopping bags from Belk’s containing the stolen merchandise, and a search of Jones yielded approximately $270 in cash.

Jones v. State

A discrepancy in nomenclature between the indictment, which charged the defendant with armed robbery with the use of a pellet pistol, and the evidence, which showed that the perpetrator wielded a BB gun, did not constitute a fatal variance.

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