Reese v. State

The victim saw one of two men involved in the burglary come from the direction of his garage with a window screen, the window screens had been stored in the garage, and some of the screens in the men's vehicle had come from the garage.

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A jury found Michael Reese guilty of burglary and misdemeanor theft by taking. Reese appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. We affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be construed in the light most favorable to the verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys the presumption of innocence; moreover, an appellate court does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility but only determines whether the evidence is sufficient under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. Citation and punctuation omitted. Buice v. State , 281 Ga. App. 595 636 SE2d 676 2006. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence showed that the victim owned a rental home adjacent to his personal residence. The rental home was vacant. Next to the rental home was a stand-alone garage used for storage. On the morning of October 19, 2006, the victim noticed a white vehicle with its trunk open parked near the garage. He then observed one man pulling down copper electrical wire that ran from the rental home to the garage, and another man coming from the direction of the garage with wire window screens that he was tearing up. The victim also saw that the lock to the garage door had been torn off. He called 911 and continued to watch the two men until the police arrived. The victim was between 100 and 150 feet from the two men the entire time that he was observing them.

A police officer responded to the scene and approached the two men identified by the victim, one of whom was Reese, the other of whom was co-defendant Michael Jackson. The officer noticed copper, wire screen, and other materials in the trunk of the white vehicle. When asked why they were on the rental property, Jackson and Reese said they were “just looking around.” The officer placed the two men under arrest and transported them to the police station.

Reese v. State

The victim saw one of two men involved in the burglary come from the direction of his garage with a window screen, the window screens had been stored in the garage, and some of the screens in the men's vehicle had come from the garage.

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