Appellant Gregory Styles was convicted of felony murder, aggravated assault, and giving a false statement arising out of the shooting death of Lafe Johnson and the aggravated assault of Charles “Pops” Holloway. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on the felony murder count, a concurrent ten year sentence for aggravated assault and a concurrent three year sentence on the false statement conviction.1 He appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial and we affirm. 1. The evidence at trial authorized the jury to find that the victims and two others were playing cards in Holloway’s garage when Styles and his brother, co-defendant John Sampson, entered the garage wearing masks and army fatigues and armed with a shotgun and automatic pistol. Sampson held the four men at gunpoint while Styles entered Holloway’s home looking for a safe. Holloway followed Styles into the home, scuffled with him, and was shot once in the leg. Styles told Holloway to be quiet or he would shoot him again. Meanwhile, Johnson charged Sampson in the garage and the two fought over the gun. Johnson died as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Styles and Sampson were arrested after Sampson sought treatment for a gunshot wound to his foot. Sampson gave police a false name and stated he was shot when someone tried to rob him while walking through the woods. Even with Sampson’s help, police could not find the area where Sampson claimed he was attacked or the friend’s house where he said he sought help. Police did discover that on the night of the crimes, the same night Sampson was shot, Sampson and Styles went to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor noticed Sampson’s gunshot wound and Sampson told her that somebody was worse off than he was. The next day Styles asked the neighbor’s niece to tell police Sampson was at her house the previous night and was robbed when he left to go to the store. While in jail Styles told one inmate he did not kill anybody but he shot “Pops.” He told another inmate that he was involved in a robbery of a guy named “Pops” that went bad and that they had been looking for a safe with money and marijuana.
