Sims v. State

Vinson Perez Sims appeals from the trial court’s denial of his motion for new trial following his conviction for burglary. Sims challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and contends that the trial judge intimated his opinion as to Sims’s guilt in violation of OCGA § 17-8-57 when he questioned a defense witness. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. Following a criminal conviction, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. Green v. State , 298 Ga. App. 17, 18 679 SE2d 348 2009. Construed in this manner, the evidence showed that in the evening hours of October 12, 2008, three men broke into an apartment in Coweta County and stole electronic equipment, including a flat screen television, in addition to other items. They drove away in a silver-colored Volkswagen Passat and went to a nearby apartment complex where they divided up the stolen merchandise between them. Two of the men, Christopher Copson and Angelo Render, were subsequently apprehended, agreed to speak with the police after being advised of their Miranda rights,1 and confessed to their involvement in the burglary. Copson told the interviewing detective that a third male participated in the robbery, and Render expressly identified defendant Sims by name as the third participant.

During the course of the police investigation, the detective traced the silver car to Render’s sister. She owned the car and lived in the apartment complex where the three men fled after the burglary. Render’s sister gave the police consent to search her car, and they discovered some of the stolen merchandise in the trunk.