Following a jury trial, Jarael Holsey was convicted on one count of armed robbery,1 one count of kidnapping,2 and two counts of aggravated assault.3 He appeals his conviction and the denial of his motion for new trial, i challenging the sufficiency of the evidence and further arguing that the trial court erred in ii denying his request for an appointment of new trial counsel and iii failing to find that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm Holsey’s conviction. 1. Holsey contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction. We disagree. “On appeal from a criminal conviction, the evidence must be construed in a light most favorable to the verdict, and Holsey no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence.” Punctuation omitted. Berry v. State .4 When 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 .5
So viewed, the record shows that shortly after midnight on June 12, 2005, the manager of a local Arby’s fast-food restaurant and one of his female employees had finished closing the restaurant for the night and were getting ready to go home. As the manager and the employee got into the manager’s car, they were confronted by Holsey and another male, who were brandishing pistols and demanding money. When the manager claimed that he had no money, Holsey pointed the pistol at the manager’s head, forced him out of the car, and ushered him back toward the restaurant. Meanwhile, Holsey’s accomplice remained near the car with the employee while holding his pistol to her side and ordering her to keep quiet. Back at the restaurant, Holsey ordered the manager to unlock the door and threatened to shoot him if he activated the security alarm. Once inside, he ordered the manager to open the restaurant’s safe, while continuing to threaten him, and took approximately $375 as well as the manager’s cellular telephone. After leaving the restaurant, Holsey and his accomplice ran to an adjacent parking lot and fled from the area in a car that had been parked in that lot.
