Jamie Lee Whitley was found guilty by a jury of armed robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, false imprisonment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of the felony of aggravated assault. Based on evidence that Whitley was guilty as a party to the charged offenses, the trial court entered judgment of conviction on all the guilty verdicts except aggravated assault, which the court merged into the armed robbery. Whitley contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. We find no merit to these contentions and affirm the judgment of conviction. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the guilty verdicts, the State produced evidence that Whitley intentionally aided and abetted a home invasion in which the home was burglarized and an occupant of the home was detained and robbed by use of a handgun. Evidence showed that the 16-year-old child of the homeowner was alone in the home when Whitley knocked on the door and asked if the child’s brother was home. The child, who recognized Whitley as an acquaintance of his older brother, told Whitley that his brother was not home. After Whitley asked if anyone else was there and the child confirmed that he was alone, Whitley asked if he could come inside to get a drink of water and use the bathroom and the child complied. While inside, Whitley briefly walked around the home, inquired where the other family members were, and then left. About five minutes later, the child was confronted inside the home by a man the child did not know, who pointed a handgun at the child and forced the child into a room, where the man handcuffed the child’s hands behind his back and tied his feet. While the child lay handcuffed and tied on the floor of the room for about two hours, he could hear people ransacking through other parts of the home. After about two hours, the child was able to get his feet untied and ran to the front door. He turned around and opened the front door with his still-handcuffed hands, and ran out of the home. As the child exited the front door, he saw a truck parked on the side of the home next to the basement door. He saw one man sitting in the truck and two men talking to each other and loading the truck with boxes of items taken from the home. He recognized one of the men loading the truck as the gunman who detained him and the other as Whitley. The child ran immediately to a neighbor’s home and the neighbor called the police. When police arrived, the truck and all three men, including Whitley, were gone.
Evidence showed that, during the invasion, the home was ransacked and numerous items of property, including the child’s computer, were taken from the home. The child identified a box left behind by the men as containing items of property taken from the home. During the period of time when the home invasion occurred, a neighbor who lived across the street from the home, saw a truck similar to the one seen by the child parked near the basement door side of the home. The neighbor saw a man in the truck matching the description of the gunman get out of the truck, walk toward the basement door of the home, and speak with another man matching Whitley’s description outside the basement door. The child and the child’s father the homeowner testified and confirmed that none of the persons seen or heard by the child had authority to enter the home.
