The Juvenile Court of Chatham County adjudicated 16-year-old J. D. delinquent for acts, which if committed by an adult, would have constituted burglary, possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, carrying a concealed weapon, and possession of a pistol by a minor. J. D. appeals, contending that the evidence was insufficient to support the adjudications for burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime and that the trial court erred in qualifying the investigating officer as an expert witness. We disagree and affirm. When reviewing the sufficiency of evidence supporting a juvenile court’s adjudication, we apply the same standard of review used in criminal cases. We construe the evidence in favor of the court’s adjudication and determine if a rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile committed the acts charged.1 So construed, the evidence shows that on the evening of December 4, 2009, Gloria Steele was alone at her home in the Fred Wessels housing project when she heard a noise in the kitchen. When Steele entered the kitchen she observed a small male, wearing a green and black Army fatigue jacket, climbing through the window. The person commanded Steele to “Get down” and she immediately ran out the front door and called 911 on her cell phone. Officer Kevin McCoon responded to the apartment three minutes later and observed that the kitchen window and front and back doors were open. McCoon noticed muddy footprints leading from the kitchen window to the back door. When Steele returned to the apartment with another officer, she noticed that her daughter’s purse was missing and that there were muddy footprints on the kitchen floor. Steele told McCoon that the floor had been clean and that the muddy footprints came from the perpetrator. Once McCoon got a description of the perpetrator from Steele, he put out a BOLO. McCoon testified that the weather was bad and that very few people were out walking around. Five minutes later, and thirteen minutes after Steele had called 911, Officer Adam Willis stopped two males including J. D., who was wearing an Army-style camouflage jacket. J. D. told Willis that he was on his way to see a girl on Waters Drive. Willis alerted McCoon, who arrived on the scene. When McCoon compared J. D.’s shoes to the muddy footprints he determined that “they appeared to match in both tread pattern as well as size of the footprints.” Before placing J. D. in the patrol car to transport him to the scene, McCoon asked him if he had a gun. J. D. denied having a gun. McCoon patted him down and discovered a loaded pistol in the right pocket of his jacket. When McCoon asked J. D. why he was outside, J. D. told McCoon that he was coming from the area of Paul Court, which is in the vicinity of Steele’s home. Willis testified that J. D. was calm and pleasant but that when McCoon arrived, he became nervous and agitated, began fidgeting, and kept his arms “in very close proximity to his waistline.”
Nikki Johnson testified that J. D. came to her house on Paul Court at approximately 5:00 p.m. and that he left sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. J. D. testified that he left Johnson’s home around 8:00 p.m. and was on his way to his girlfriend’s house when he was stopped by the police, approximately 10-15 feet from Johnson’s home. J. D. admitted carrying a loaded pistol and testified that he lied to officers because he was scared. J. D. further explained that he had been carrying the gun because he wanted to scare students at school who had jumped him and threatened him with a gun. He also testified that he has had the same job for over two years, making approximately $500 a month.
