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Hall v. State

The defendant's convictions for aggravated assault and malice murder did not merge, because separate conduct established each crime.

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Appellant Joseph Hall, Jr., appeals his conviction for malice murder, aggravated assault, theft by taking, and financial transaction card theft in relation to the death of David Cook.1 1. At trial, the evidence showed that on April 8, 2002, appellant and his co-defendant went to the apartment home of the victim to have drinks and sex. Appellant testified he used drugs and sipped alcohol while at the victim’s apartment. The victim allegedly made unwanted sexually aggressive advances toward appellant. Appellant took the stand in his own defense2 and admitted to punching the victim, stabbing the victim with a knife, tying the victim’s hands with phone cord, observing his co-defendant cut the victim’s throat, and leaving the scene without calling for help or knowing whether the victim was alive or dead. The evidence showed appellant and the co-defendant stole the victim’s vehicle and used the victim’s credit and debit cards on their way to Alabama where the victim’s car was eventually found. The medical examiner testified that the victim died from “incised and stab wounds of the neck and torso,” including a wound that punctured the victim’s lung and a wound that punctured the victim’s neck artery. The medical examiner also found that suffocation was indicated, as well as blunt trauma to the neck by squeezing or striking.

The evidence adduced at trial and summarized above was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find appellant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of malice murder, aggravated assault, theft by taking, and financial transaction card theft. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.

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