Kenneth Howard was tried by a Lowndes County jury and convicted of kidnapping1 and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.2 He now appeals, contending that the evidence adduced at his trial is insufficient to sustain his convictions, that the prosecuting attorney made impermissible comments about his character in the presence of the jury, and that he was deprived at trial of the effective assistance of counsel. We find no merit in these contentions and affirm his convictions. 1. We consider first whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain Howard’s convictions. To this end, we ask whether any rational jury could find proof of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in the evidence adduced at trial, viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict. Ferguson v. State , 307 Ga. App. 232, 233 1 704 SE2d 470 2010. And when we consider this question, we must keep in mind that it is for the jury, not this Court, to resolve conflicts in the evidence, weigh the evidence, and draw reasonable inferences from the evidence. Id. So, if the record contains some competent evidence to prove each element of the crimes of which the defendant was convicted, even if that evidence is controverted, we must uphold the conviction. Id.
Viewed the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence shows that, on May 7, 2007, the driver of a Pepsi-Cola delivery truck made a delivery to a Wal-Mart in Valdosta, where the driver stocked several vending machines and collected money from the machines, which he then put into a safe in his delivery truck. As the driver was leaving the Wal-Mart, a man jumped into the cab of the truck, pointed a handgun at the driver, and chambered a round. The gunman asked if the driver knew what he wanted, to which the driver responded that he did, and the gunman replied: “Don’t do nothing stupid, and there won’t be no trouble.” The gunman then told the driver to drive away, occasionally instructing the driver to turn onto a crossroad and eventually directing the driver to a secluded dirt road, more than six miles from the Wal-Mart. As they drove, the driver told the gunman that the driver did not know the combination to open the safe, and the gunman said that other people were following the truck and that they would be displeased if he could not get any money from the driver. The gunman finally asked the driver if he had anything else of value in the truck, and the driver offered to give the gunman credit cards and Pepsi products. The gunman declined this offer, but when the truck stopped on the dirt road, the gunman took a cell phone from the driver, exited the truck, and disappeared.
