Kenneth Augustus Mills, Jr. was convicted by a jury of felony murder, vehicular homicide, aggravated assault five counts, and failure to stop and render aid after Mills intentionally drove his truck into another vehicle causing the other vehicle to roll over, killing the driver and injuring four passengers.1 On appeal, Mills asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdicts and that the verdicts for vehicular homicide and felony murder are mutually exclusive and cannot stand. Finding no merit to these assertions, we affirm. Christopher Robertson was driving his pick-up truck in the inside left lane next to the median on Interstate-85 in Jackson County. His wife and three children were passengers in the vehicle; they were on their way to North Carolina where their eldest child was about to begin college. According to the testimony of two members of the Robertson family, two eyewitnesses in another vehicle, and an expert in the field of accident reconstruction, a white van, driven by Mills, came into Mr. Robertson’s lane, forcing his vehicle off the interstate. To avoid contact with the van, Mr. Robertson rode off the road into the median, traveled on the gravel in the median for about a quarter of a mile, and then maneuvered his vehicle back into the left lane of the interstate. The white van, which was in the right lane, suddenly pulled up alongside the Robertsons’ vehicle and once again forced it off the road and into the median. When Mr. Robertson attempted to speed up or slow down to get back into the lane, Mills would do the same, preventing Mr. Robertson from returning to the interstate. After about one-half mile, guard rails in the median blocked the path of Mr. Robertson’s truck. Mr. Robertson, however, was able to get back onto the interstate in front of or to the side of the van. Mills then rammed his van into the back right tire or fender of Mr. Robertson’s truck, causing it to turn horizontal to the roadway. Mills never applied his brakes but instead continued to “T-bone” the truck, pushing it along the interstate. The truck began to fishtail and spin out of control, flipping over five times before coming to rest on the right shoulder. Mills left the scene. Mr. Robertson died in the collision and his four family members were injured.
1. Mills submits that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction for felony murder because the fatal collision resulted from Mr. Robertson’s re-entry into the path of Mills’ van, and not from an act of Mills. Thus, he argues that his conduct was not the direct cause of the accident, as required under the felony murder statute. See e.g., Hyman v. State , 272 Ga. 492, 493 1 531 SE2d 708 2000 “strict construction of the statute is necessary, requiring that the death ‘be caused directly by one of the parties to the underlying felony’ “.
