A Gwinnett County Grand Jury returned two indictments against Steven Seibert. The first, Indictment No. 05B-3446-2, charged Seibert with one count of aggravated stalking OCGA § 16-5-91 in connection with the allegation that on March 31, 2005, Seibert violated a permanent restraining order “PRO” prohibiting him from contact with his ex-wife, Leslie Swords. The second indictment, No. 05B-03447-2, charged Seibert with two counts of aggravated stalking, based on violations of the PRO on April 30, 2005 and May 2, 2005, and with abandonment of a dependent child OCGA § 19-10-1. The cases were consolidated for trial. After a jury trial, Steven Seibert was convicted of two counts of aggravated stalking, the count alleged in the first indictment and Count 2 of the second indictment, and of misdemeanor abandonment of a dependent child. Seibert was sentenced to a total of 21 years, to serve the first 15 in confinement and the balance on probation. On appeal, Seibert charges the trial court with three errors: 1 the denial of Seibert’s demurrer, which was based upon the lack of authority of the magistrate judges who issued the restraining orders; 2 the violation of Seibert’s right to free exercise of religion; and 3 the admission of harmful character evidence against Seibert and the denial of his motion for mistrial based thereon. Finding no error, we affirm.
“On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to support the jury’s verdict, and the defendant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence; moreover, this Court determines evidence sufficiency and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility.”1 So viewed, the record shows that Leslie Swords and appellant Seibert were married for fourteen and half years and have two children, ages eighteen and fourteen. During their marriage, Swords and Seibert separated three times, in 1986, 1994, and 1996. Swords testified that the second separation followed an act of domestic violence, for which she contacted police, and that the final separation occurred after Seibert prevented Swords from receiving telephone calls by installing call block and prevented Swords from leaving the house by disconnecting the battery cables on Swords’s vehicle. Swords reported these actions to police. Swords filed for divorce in January of 1996, and the divorce was finalized in November 1998. As a part of the divorce decree, Swords was awarded sole custody of the children, and Seibert was ordered to pay $583 in child support twice a month. According to Swords, she has not received a child support payment since February 2002, and Seibert has not otherwise provided any financial support to her or the children since that time.
