Marquet Sherman Donald was charged with one count of burglary, three counts of armed robbery, three counts of aggravated assault, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, three counts of false imprisonment, two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, and one count of theft by taking. A Clayton County jury found him not guilty of the two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, not guilty of one count of aggravated assault, and guilty of the remaining 15 charges. Donald appeals following the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that 1 the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction beyond a reasonable doubt; 2 the trial court erred by admitting hearsay evidence; 3 the trial court erred by admitting identification evidence for which there was no foundation; and 4 he received ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm, for reasons that follow. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury, not this Court, resolves conflicts in the testimony, weighs the evidence, and draws reasonable inferences from basic facts to ultimate facts. As long as there is some competent evidence, even though contradicted, to support each fact necessary to make out the State’s case, the jury’s verdict will be upheld.1 So viewed, the record shows that on July 3, 2008, Sherada Thompson, Justin Jones, and Cheryl Alphabet were working the night shift at a fast food restaurant in Clayton County and preparing to close for the night. At approximately 1:30 a.m., Jones exited the restaurant through the rear emergency door, dumped out a bucket of mop water, and went back inside the restaurant without fully latching the door. Thompson heard “a big bang” coming from the back of the restaurant, and when she and Jones went to investigate the sound, they found Alphabet lying on the floor. Standing in the rear of the restaurant was a man wearing a black ski mask, gloves, and sunglasses and holding a gun. The man forced Jones into the restaurant’s office and closed the door. Using his cell phone, Jones quickly called his brother, Allen, and told him that the restaurant was being robbed. Meanwhile, the gunman ordered Thompson and Alphabet to the front of the restaurant, where he ordered Alphabet to retrieve money from the cash registers and put it into trash bags. Next, the gunman forced Thompson and Alphabet into the walk-in cooler and forced Jones into the freezer. After another five or ten minutes, the gunman transferred Thompson and then Alphabet from the cooler into the freezer with Jones, demanding the women’s cell phones and commenting that Alphabet had a new phone. The gunman then pointed his weapon at Alphabet’s face and demanded the keys to her red Pontiac Sunfire, which was parked outside the restaurant, after which he forced her to exit the freezer. After a few minutes, Thompson heard “tussling and ruffling around,” and Jones heard a slam, Alphabet scream, and then a gunshot. Ten to fifteen minutes later, Thompson and Jones exited the freezer, by which time the police had already arrived.
Meanwhile, when Jones’s brothers, Allen and Edward, received the call from Jones regarding the robbery, they sped to the restaurant, which was a short distance from their location. While in route, they called 911 and advised the police about the robbery. When they arrived, they observed a man behind the restaurant sitting in a car with door open. The brothers asked the man where Jones and Alphabet were, and he responded that the restaurant was closed. When the brothers told the man that Jones had called and reported the robbery, he said, “Hold on for a minute, the store is closed, they’ll be out in short, they’ll be out shortly.” As Edward jumped out of the car and approached him, the man “reached for something, like he was going to pull something out.” Before he was able to retrieve the item, police arrived on the scene, and the man sped away in his car.
