Following a jury trial, co-defendants Derrick Daniels and Terrance Beard were convicted on two counts of armed robbery,1 three counts of hijacking a motor vehicle,2 three counts of aggravated assault,3 two counts of theft by taking,4 one count of theft by receiving,5 and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.6 Beard was also convicted by the same jury on an additional count of theft by taking, for which Daniels was not charged. Both appeal their convictions and the denial of their motions for new trial, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support their convictions and that the trial court erred in admitting similar transaction evidence, in charging the jury on the full text of the hijacking statute, and in admitting victim impact evidence during the guilt-innocence phase of trial. In addition, Beard contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to sever his trial from that of his co-defendant. Because the charges arose from the same incidents and same set of facts and because the appellants were tried together, we have consolidated their separate appeals for review. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in both cases. “On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be construed in a light most favorable to the verdict and appellants no longer enjoy a presumption of innocence.” Punctuation omitted. Dennis v. State .7 In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendants guilty of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia .8
So viewed, the record shows that in the early evening on September 22, 2007, the owner of a BP gas station convenience store had walked outside to his store’s parking lot to put some items in his car when a white Lexus pulled up next to him. As the Lexus stopped, three young African-American men exited the car, pointed a handgun and a shotgun at the store owner, and demanded his car keys. When the owner refused, one of the men hit him in the head with the butt end of the shotgun, at which point the owner fled back into his store and yelled for his wife, who was working with him that night, to call 911. While his wife called the police, the store owner saw the white Lexus leave his parking lot and pull into the parking lot of a Chevron gas station across the street.
