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Ward v. State

Under the circumstances, the trial judge's compliments to a witness did not constitute an impermissible expression of judge's opinion regarding the evidence or the guilt of the accused.

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A Columbia County jury found Michael Ward guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, OCGA § 16-11-131. He appeals from the denial of his motion for a new trial, contending that the trial court erred in “complimenting” a witness for the State following the witness’ testimony. For the following reasons, we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,1 the record shows the following relevant facts. At approximately 10:00 p.m. on July 23, 2005, a man and his girlfriend noticed that a red car had pulled into the yard of their home in Appling. Two men, Tommy Reynolds and Zacharriah Carter, got out of the car, walked into the man’s house, and attempted to rob him at gunpoint. The man struggled with the robbers and then ran outside. After the robbers followed and confronted the man again, they ran into the woods, where they were arrested a few hours later.

While the armed robbery and the resulting struggle were taking place inside the house, the man and other witnesses saw the red car back up and drive away. Two witnesses got into their car, followed the red car as it drove toward Appling, and called the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The witnesses followed the car until a police officer intercepted and took over the chase. The officer activated his blue lights and stopped the car at 10:13 p.m. beside a private driveway on Appling-Harlem Road, near the Harlem-Wrens mileage post. The officer ordered the two occupants out of the car, patted them down, and handcuffed them. Tavares Freeman was the driver of the car and Ward was the passenger.

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