Following a jury trial in which the State sought the death penalty, Randy Simmons was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of armed robbery, and aggravated assault.1 Prior to the start of the sentencing phase of his trial, Simmons entered into a sentencing agreement with the State, allowing him to avoid possible imposition of the death penalty. Simmons now appeals, contending among among other things that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. We affirm. 1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the record shows that, on November 21, 2002, Simmons, Marcus Gary, Keenan Stokes, and Samantha Faulk planned to rob Michael Norby as he was making a night deposit at a local bank. After being dropped of by Faulk in woods near the bank, Simmons handed an AK-47 rifle to Stokes, and Simmons and Gary carried guns as well. After Norby pulled into the bank to make his deposit, the assailants surrounded Norby’s truck, and Stokes opened fire, killing Norby. Simmons and Stokes then dragged Norby’s body into the woods and took Norby’s checkbook and wallet from his truck. Simmons returned to the scene later that evening to remove shell casings from around the truck; however, one AK-47 shell casing was left behind. Both Simmons and Gary confessed to this crime and fully described its circumstances. These confessions were almost identical, and they were corroborated by videotape from a bank surveillance camera which captured footage of the murder in progress. In addition, Gary led police to the hiding places of personal items of Norby which had been removed from his truck after the murder.
The record further shows that, on December 23, 2002, Faulk, again acting as a get-away driver, drove Simmons, Gary, and Wati Huggins to the Silver Dollar Lounge, which they had planned to rob that evening. They aborted the mission, however, after they discovered that there were too many people on the premises. They returned the following night, and, in the parking lot, Simmons robbed the club’s bartender, Maie Galligan, taking her purse after threatening her with the AK-47 that had previously been used to murder Norby. Ty Hawthorne, the club’s bouncer, witnessed the robbery, confronted Simmons, grappled with him, and wrested the gun out of Simmons’ grip. Simmons and the others fled the scene when Hawthorne started to fire the AK-47 at them. Again, both Simmons and Gary fully admitted that they committed these crimes.
