Ricky Tatum was convicted of burglary, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. His amended motion for new trial was denied, and he appeals, asserting error in the admission of a similar transaction and in sentencing. Finding no error, we affirm. 1. In two enumerations of error, Tatum complains that evidence of a similar transaction was improperly admitted because it was insufficiently similar and because its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value. Similar transaction evidence is admissible where 1 the evidence is offered for a proper purpose, 2 the state establishes that the defendant committed the separate offense, and 3 there is sufficient similarity between the separate offense and the crime charged so that proof of the former tends to prove the latter. On appeal, this Court reviews the trial court’s decision to admit such evidence for abuse of discretion, and we will affirm a finding that two incidents are sufficiently similar unless it is clearly erroneous. Citation and footnote omitted. Garvin v. State , 292 Ga. App. 813, 814 665 SE2d 908 2008. In the case before us, Tatum burst into an apartment in the early morning hours armed with a semi-automatic pistol. He placed the gun to the victim’s head and said, “I’ll kill you if you don’t leave my homeboy alone.” When another victim called the police, Tatum fled.
Tatum stipulated in the pretrial hearing pursuant to USCR 31.3 that he was the person convicted for the 1992 aggravated assault offered as a similar transaction. That assault occurred less than two blocks away from the incident for which Tatum was convicted in the case before us. In the early morning hours, Tatum took a semi-automatic pistol he had borrowed from a friend and had “gone back looking” for a man known only as “Black” with whom he had had an altercation. He located Black standing in a vacant lot with others and opened fire “in an attempt to scare him,” striking a bystander in the head and severely wounding him. He then fled the scene. He told the officer who interviewed him that he was “just trying to scare” Black.
