Following trial, a jury convicted Willie J. Blanks on one count each of aggravated assault, simple battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Blanks appeals, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. For the reasons noted infra , we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict,1 the record shows that just before noon on December 23, 2008, Travis Curtis was walking down a street in his neighborhood when he was approached by a car, in which Blanks, Thomas Dewitt, and two other young men were passengers. Curtis knew all of the men in the car, including Blanks and Dewitt and, therefore, walked over to the vehicle’s passenger-side window after Blanks called him over to talk. Based on a long-running dispute between Curtis and Dewitt over a girlfriend, the conversation quickly became heated, and Blanks slapped Curtis in the face. Blanks then encouraged Dewitt to “whip” Curtis. At that point, Blanks and Dewitt exited the car, and Dewitt struck Curtis in the head with a pistol that Blanks had given to Dewitt only a minute or two earlier. As Curtis lay bleeding from the wound to his head which ultimately required 15 stitches, Blanks and Dewitt got back into the car and drove away. Curtis immediately reported the incident to the police, who later arrested Blanks and Dewitt for the assault.
Thereafter, Blanks and Dewitt were indicted jointly on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon,2 and Blanks was indicted individually on one count each of simple battery,3 possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime,4 and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.5 During trial, Curtis testified regarding the details of the assault. In addition, a police officer testified that in the course of his investigation of the incident, Blanks lead police to a pistol, which had been hidden in the trunk of another vehicle and matched the description of the pistol used to strike Curtis. The State also introduced a written statement that Blanks provided to the police, in which he admitted that he slapped Curtis in the face and that Dewitt hit Curtis in the head with the pistol. Finally, the State called Dewitt as a witness, and he testified that Blanks gave him the pistol that he used to strike Curtis just moments before the assault occurred. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Blanks guilty on all counts of the indictment. Subsequently, Blanks filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied. This appeal follows.
