Following a jury trial, Shawn Patterson appeals his convictions for terroristic acts,1 aggressive driving,2 and criminal trespass,3 arguing that the only evidence identifying him as the perpetrator was erroneously admitted hearsay testimony and that the evidence was thus insufficient to support his conviction. As the conviction relied on inadmissible hearsay, we reverse. “The admission of evidence is committed to the sound legal discretion of the presiding judge, whose determinations will not be disturbed on appeal unless they constitute an abuse of that discretion.” Punctuation omitted. Jackson v. State .4 The undisputed evidence admitted at trial shows that Ellen Garner was driving on a local highway Highway 41 when a male driver in a maroon Honda Accord pulled up behind Garner’s black Acura Integra. Because the driver was unable to pass Garner, he began honking his horn, flashing his lights, and making obscene hand gestures toward her. He continued this activity for approximately one-and-a-half to two miles, and Garner was afraid she might be run off the road. Although Garner was not able to identify specific facial features, she was able to observe that the driver was a male with a dark complexion. When the driver was eventually able to pass, he threw an object that hit Garner’s car, causing a small dent in the passenger door. The driver pulled into a turning lane, and Garner drove behind him and wrote down his tag number. She then pulled into a gas station and called the police. The responding officer took a report of the incident and the tag number. The license plate number came back as registered to Patterson’s sister, and consequently the officer went to the registered address and spoke to a woman identifying herself as Patterson’s mother.
According to the officer’s testimony at trial, Patterson’s mother said that Patterson had been driving the Honda all day and that his sister, the vehicle’s owner, had not been driving it. The officer also testified that to his knowledge Patterson was not present at the residence, and that the mother said Patterson was not there. The officer left a message with Patterson’s mother for Patterson to call him.
