Robbins v. State

Following a jury trial, Bruce Robbins was found guilty of armed robbery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and possessing a weapon during the commission of a crime. In his sole enumeration of error on appeal, Robbins contends that the trial court erred in failing to merge the aggravated assault charge with the aggravated battery charge. For reasons that follow, we disagree and affirm. Viewed in keeping with the verdict, the relevant facts show that on February 10, 2006, Antonio Branford sold Robbins $50 worth of drugs. According to Branford, Robbins appeared to be in a drunken rage. Later that night, Robbins approached Branford, who was sitting in a car, and said that he needed more drugs. Robbins then pulled a gun and shot Branford in the head, injuring Branford’s right eye, which had to be removed. Afterwards, Robbins demanded that Branford give him the money he had used to pay for the drugs, and Branford handed him $60.

As a result of this incident, Robbins was charged with aggravated assault for “making an assault upon the person of Antonio Branford with the intent to murder with a deadly weapon, to wit: a firearm.” He also was charged with aggravated battery for “maliciously causing bodily harm to Antonio Branford by rendering a member of his body useless; to wit: caused the loss of his right eye.” Following Robbins’ conviction for these crimes, the trial court declined to merge the offenses, and Robbins was sentenced to 20 years for both aggravated assault and aggravated battery, to be served concurrently. This appeal ensued.