Peach County grand jury indicted Marvin Hillman, III, Todd Green, Xavious Bernard Bivens, and Ricky Jerome Collier, Jr., on charges of armed robbery two counts, burglary, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon Hillman and Green only, and participation in gang activity. Only Hillman proceeded to trial, and during the trial, his co-indictees were called to testify by the state.1 Hillman was convicted of both counts of armed robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On appeal, Hillman challenges the sufficiency of the evidence as to each conviction and argues that the trial court erred in i excusing several jurors; ii refusing to grant a mistrial after a juror testified that she knew the victim; iii not allowing Hillman to ask certain questions of Collier; iv failing to merge the burglary and armed robbery convictions; v failing to give three of appellant’s jury charges; vi excluding statements from the jury room; vii allowing the state to impeach its own witnesses; and viii not declaring that the applicable sentencing statutes were unconstitutional. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be construed in a light most favorable to the verdict and Hillman no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence. In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we do not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility, but only determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty of the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt.2 So viewed, the record shows that during the early morning hours of July 10, 2007, Stephen Daniels, Angel Moore, and April Melton were at Melton’s house when there was a knock at the door. Daniels and Angel answered the door, and Ricky Collier entered the residence. After speaking with them, Collier left the house and as Daniels was about to shut the door behind him, three masked men burst into the room carrying weapons. They ordered Moore and Daniels to the floor and yelled questions at Melton. The men took a cell phone from Moore and seven dollars from Melton. Collier testified that on the evening in question, he had seen Hillman, Bivens, and Green earlier that day at Lakeview Apartments; that he had known Hillman, whose nickname was “Scoop,” for approximately two years and owed Hillman $50; and that in exchange for the forgiveness of his debt, Collier agreed to show Hillman where Kyle Harris April Melton’s fiance lived. Collier further testified that they rode to Harris’s apartment in Green’s car, that he knocked on the door to inquire about Harris, and that Hillman, Bivens, and Green rushed the door with weapons. He recalled that Hillman had a nine mm handgun. Collier testified that he had no part in planning the robbery and did not know whose idea it was but Hillman, Bivens, and Green committed the robbery. Collier testified that he pled guilty to burglary before the trial and that his sentence was contingent upon his testimony in the case.
Both victims testified that they did not recognize any of the masked men. Moore testified, however, that she had heard Hillman’s voice a couple of times before the incident and thought that one of the intruders sounded like him. On cross-examination, however, Moore could not say that she was positive that the voice she heard that night was Hillman’s. But Daniels, who was present when the crime occurred, also testified that the man who was yelling sounded like Hillman.
