Lopez v. State

The defendant and other members of his Athens area street gang opened fire on a crowd of rival gang members, wounding two of them and two other people in an adjoining duplex.

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Following a jury trial, Miguel Hidalgo Lopez was convicted on eight counts of aggravated assault,1 two counts of aggravated battery,2 one count of simple battery,3 and one count of participation in criminal street gang activity.4 He appeals his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and further arguing that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance and that the trial court committed plainly reversible error by improperly commenting on the evidence in violation of OCGA § 17-8-57. 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 Lopez no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence.” Punctuation omitted. Dennis v. State .5 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. Jackson v. Virginia .6

So viewed, the record shows that Lopez was a member of an Athens area criminal street gang known as Los Primos Surenos 13 “Los Primos”. On January 24, 2004, Lopez and several other members of Los Primos were attending a birthday party, which was being held at a restaurant in downtown Athens. At some point in the early evening, three members of a rival street gang known as 18th Street, who had also been invited to the party, approached the entrance to the restaurant but were blocked from entering by two Los Primos members. Following a heated exchange of words, one Los Primos member threw a beer bottle, and a fight started, in which Lopez quickly joined. After less than a couple of minutes, the combatants fled upon learning that the police had been called.

Lopez v. State

The defendant and other members of his Athens area street gang opened fire on a crowd of rival gang members, wounding two of them and two other people in an adjoining duplex.

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