Mackey v. State

Courtney Shirome Mackey appeals from his convictions for five counts of obstructing an officer, aggravated assault, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, and two counts of interference with government property. Mackey contends that the police had no lawful right to arrest him, that insufficient evidence supports his aggravated assault conviction and one obstruction of an officer conviction,1 and that a fatal variance existed with regard to the aggravated assault charge. We disagree and affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that three police officers Miller, Lindsey, and Parrish responded to a dispatch about a vehicle driving recklessly in a liquor store parking lot. The dispatch was later upgraded to “theft in progress” and then “armed robbery.” When Officer Miller arrived at the scene, he saw Mackey “coming out of the liquor store at a high rate of speed” in a white SUV. Officer Lindsey also saw Mackey “leaving the parking lot at a high rate of speed and spinning.” All of the officers were wearing uniforms and driving marked patrol cars with their blue lights activated when they encountered Mackey.

When Officer Miller tried to block Mackey from leaving the parking lot, he heard Mackey say, “Oh, Sht,” through the open driver’s windows on both cars. Mackey “accelerated further” after seeing Officer Miller and hit the front of Officer Miller’s patrol car before attempting to flee by driving in a culvert parallel to the road. Mackey attempted to maneuver out of the culvert and hit the side of Officer’s Lindsey’s patrol car on his second attempt.