In March 2008, appellant Freddie Gonzales Guzman was found guilty of the December 2006 malice murder of Juan Carlos Rangel Gayoso and was sentenced to life imprisonment.1 In his appeal, he contests the sufficiency of the evidence, the admission of evidence of his membership in a gang, the denial of his challenge to the array, and the denial of his objection to the State’s use of its peremptory challenges to remove African-American venire members from the jury panel. See Batson v. Kentucky , 476 U.S. 79 106 SC 1712, 90 LE2d 69 1986. After reviewing the appellate record in light of appellant’s contentions, we affirm the judgment of conviction. 1. Appellant contends the evidence presented by the State was insufficient because the testimony of his co-indictee connecting appellant to the crime was uncorroborated. To sustain a conviction in a felony case upon the testimony of an accomplice, there must be corroborating facts or circumstances, which, in themselves and independently of the testimony of the accomplice, directly connect the defendant with the crime, or lead to the inference that he is guilty . . . . Cits.. The necessary corroborating evidence may be circumstantial and it may be slight. Cits.. The sufficiency of any corroborating evidence is for the trier of fact to decide. Matthews v. State , 284 Ga. 819 1 672 SE2d 633 2009.
The State presented evidence that the victim died as a result of a gunshot fired from a 9-mm. semi-automatic pistol that was recovered from the backyard of appellant’s co-indictee. The bullet entered the victim’s left shoulder, passed through his lungs and aorta before exiting the body near the victim’s right armpit. A motorist passing by testified he saw two vehicles traveling in the same direction, with the passenger side of a gold GMC Yukon vehicle alongside the driver’s side of the victim’s vehicle. The motorist saw “flame” coming out of a window on the passenger side of the Yukon at the same time he heard three or four shots being fired. The motorist followed the Yukon and reported the vehicle’s license-tag number to police.
