Parker v. State

After a jury trial, Keith Parker was found guilty of the malice murder of Rosalind Mechelle Hill, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony. He also pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The trial court treated the felony murder verdict as surplusage, merged the aggravated assault count into the malice murder count, entered judgments of conviction on the remaining counts, and sentenced Parker to life imprisonment for malice murder and to five-year terms on the weapons charges. A motion for new trial was denied. Parker appeals pursuant to the trial court’s grant of a motion for out-of-time appeal. 1. Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that Parker shared a house with Ms. Hill, who was his girlfriend, and with another couple, Mr. Isaac Wade and Ms. Karl Jackson. On the night before the homicide, Parker and Wade were expected to return home by 2:00 a.m., but did not arrive until 9:00 a.m. Parker and the victim had a history of heated arguments and on that day, he entered their bedroom carrying a gun. The other couple heard a gunshot, and Parker ran from the room, stating that he had shot the victim accidentally. He testified that the shooting occurred during a struggle and that it was an accident. The victim, who died at the scene, was found on her back on the bed with her feet flat on the floor and a near contact wound to the middle of her chest. The bullet had exited through her back and was recovered from the box spring. The evidence, including the physical circumstances, was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to reject Parker’s defense of accident and find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes for which he was convicted. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Stinson v. State , 279 Ga. 177, 178 1 611 SE2d 52 2005.

2. The prosecutor moved for a continuance based upon the absence of the medical examiner, who was a material witness for the State. Parker enumerates the grant of this motion as error.