After a jury trial, Jesus Godoy Tavera was found guilty of malice murder, aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. The trial court entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Tavera to life imprisonment for the murder, a consecutive 20-year term for the aggravated assault, and consecutive 5-year terms for the weapons offenses. A motion for new trial was denied, and he appeals.1 1. Construed in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that, during a large birthday celebration at a rental hall, a group of people causing a disturbance refused to leave, and a fight began. According to several eyewitnesses, Tavera then pulled out a gun and fatally shot Jose Mora-Orduna in the chest. Tavera also shot Jose’s brother in the hand. This evidence was sufficient to authorize the jury to find Tavera guilty of the murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Villegas v. State , 273 Ga. 824, 825 1 546 SE2d 504 2001.
2. A semiautomatic pistol, which proved to be the murder weapon, was found behind the rental hall the day after the crimes were committed. A firearms examiner from the state crime lab, Christopher Robinson, was properly qualified as an expert and testified that wipings of Tavera’s hands did not show any gunshot residue. However, Robinson gave his expert opinion that the gunshot residue test used would not always reveal whether a person had fired a weapon. He also stated that a positive result is more likely from a revolver than from a semiautomatic, due to the different locations on the weapons from which powder is emitted, and that “we hardly ever see a positive result from a semiautomatic pistol.” Robinson further testified that he could not say that Tavera did not fire the murder weapon. The prosecutor then asked Robinson for his expert opinion regarding the likelihood that a person who fired the murder weapon would test positive for gunshot residue. Defense counsel objected on the basis that the question called for speculation, since the witness did not know the number of tests which he had performed on that type of weapon, and the percentage of tests which would yield accurate positive results would depend on that number. The objection was overruled, and Robinson testified that he would not expect to find gunshot residue from the murder weapon. Tavera contends that admission of this expert opinion without knowing the data on which it is based denied him the rights to confront the witness and to engage in a thorough and sifting cross-examination. See Eason v. State , 260 Ga. 445 396 SE2d 492 1990, overruled in part, State v. Lucious , 271 Ga. 361, 365 4 b 518 SE2d 677 1999.
