Jennings v. State

A Chatham County jury found Marcus J. Jennings guilty of armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, and obstruction.1 Jennings appeals, alleging that the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence and in charging the jury. For reasons that follow, we affirm. Viewed in a light favorable to the verdict,2 the evidence shows that on July 14, 2005, Willie James Jones left a barber shop and walked towards the parking lot where he had parked his fiancee’s vehicle. As Jones approached the vehicle, he passed Jennings, who was standing outside a nearby restaurant. Jennings approached Jones from behind and pointed two handguns at him. Jennings directed Jones to get into the vehicle, empty his pockets, and start the engine. After Jones complied, Jennings forced him to exit the vehicle, and Jennings entered the car and drove away.

Jennings racially described his assailant as a male in his early twenties, approximately six feet tall and one hundred and seventy pounds, with light skin, short hair, a clean-shaven face, and gold teeth, and wearing a hat, a striped shirt, and jeans. After the robbery, Jones and his fiancee, Katrina Martin, obtained Jennings’s name and gave it to the police. The authorities prepared a photographic line-up that included Jennings’s picture, and on July 21, 2005, Jones positively identified Jennings as his assailant.