M. W. and D. H. were tried jointly before the Juvenile Court of Bleckley County on charges of felony obstruction of an officer and simple battery, and both defendants were adjudicated delinquent by reason of their commission of the charged offenses. On appeal, both defendants raise the same two enumerations of error: 1 the adjudication on the charge of felony obstruction of an officer pursuant to OCGA § 16-10-24 b must be reversed because the individual who was assaulted was not an officer protected by the statute; and 2 the evidence was insufficient to support the juvenile court’s finding of guilt because the state failed to negate the evidence that M. W. and D. H. were acting in self defense. We consolidate these cases for disposition in a single appeal and affirm the juvenile court. 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 viewed, the record shows that both M. W. and D. H. were wards of the state. M. W. was committed to the State of Georgia in the care of the Department of Juvenile Justice “DJJ” by the Juvenile Court of Dougherty County on December 5, 2007, and D. H. was so committed by the same court on November 15, 2007. In January 2008, M. W. and D. H., both of whom were sixteen years old at the time, were placed into the custody of the Middle Georgia Wilderness Program the “MGWP” by the DJJ. The MGWP is operated by a private corporation in accordance with requirements set forth by the DJJ. Pursuant to its contract with the DJJ, the MGWP houses youth committed to the state, effectuating the DJJ’s purpose to supervise, detain, and rehabilitate juvenile delinquents committed to the state’s custody. On February 28, 2008, M. W. and D. H. attended class led by Danny McLaughlin, the MGWP’s science and social studies teacher. According to McLaughlin, M. W. brought a paper into the classroom that D. H. read out loud, which disrupted the class. McLaughlin asked D. H. to be quiet, but he refused, so McLaughlin called Cornelius James, a team leader, to remove D. H. from class. Minutes after James removed D. H. from the room, M. W. stuck his head out of the classroom door and yelled, “what are y’all doing to my boy” M. W. then left the room, heading toward James and D. H. McLaughlin watched M. W. walk toward the office where he encountered Joe Ricks, the program manager.
Ricks testified that as the program manager, his primary responsibility was to work with the youth when team leaders encountered difficulties with them. On the day of the incident, Ricks was meeting with one of the team leaders in his office when he heard over the radio that M. W. had walked out of class. Ricks walked toward the classroom, meeting M. W. en route. Ricks testified that M. W. stated that he needed to see what was happening to D. H., and that Ricks repeatedly told M. W. to return to the classroom, but he refused.
