Marcus Maurice Benbow appeals his convictions for malice murder, burglary, armed robbery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and possession of firearms during the commission of felonies, all in connection with the death of Corey Walker, and the armed robbery, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment of Rico Smith, Jeffrey Eason, Chalandria McClouden, James Williams, and Twala Williams. For the reasons that follow, we affirm in part and reverse in part.1 In his sole enumeration of error, Benbow contends that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to support his convictions. When evaluating the sufficiency of evidence, the proper standard for review is whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979. This Court does not reweigh evidence or resolve conflicts in testimony; instead, evidence is reviewed in a light most favorable to the verdict, with deference to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of the evidence. Cits. Mickens v. State , 277 Ga. 627, 627-628 593 SE2d 350 2004.
Kendall Worthy entered into a plea agreement with the State regarding his involvement in the crimes for which Benbow was convicted. Worthy testified that: he and Benbow, together with Fredrico Mikell, traveled from Waycross to Statesboro in a car driven by Bryan Hughley; before they left Waycross, an AK-47 assault rifle was placed in the trunk of the car; during the drive, Mikell tried to reach various drug dealers by telephone; Benbow told Mikell to tell anyone he reached that they had $3,500 to spend on drugs; the men learned that a drug dealer was in a gambling house in Statesboro; when they reached the gambling house, Mikell left the car; on returning, Mikell said that the drug dealer did not have sufficient drugs available; Benbow stated, “we fixing to get something” and “we didn’t come down for nothing”; Benbow was seated in the car’s backseat and slid along the seat so that the seat back could be dropped so as to access the trunk; Mikell retrieved the AK-47 from the trunk; Benbow got the ammunition clip for the rifle from the trunk and handed it to Mikell; Benbow took a .22 caliber pistol from under the front passenger seat; Mikell and Benbow exited the car and approached the door of the gambling house; Mikell knocked on the door and then ran, dropping the AK-47; when the door opened, Benbow placed his pistol inside the door, and struggled with the man who opened the door; Worthy exited the car and picked up the AK-47; as he approached the door, he heard a shot and Worthy fired multiple rounds from the AK-47 into the house as he backed away; Benbow collected money from the floor of the house and returned to the car; Hughley drove the car, with Benbow and Worthy as passengers, back to Waycross; after their arrests, Benbow told Worthy not to take a plea agreement, but urged him to get relatives or friends “to come testify saying Worthy was home with them and stuff like that”; while Worthy was confined before Benbow’s trial, he was given a letter from Benbow to Benbow’s son, who was also confined, stating that Worthy should not testify against Benbow as Benbow had “kept it real” regarding Worthy.
