Miles Victor Dempsey was tried before a jury and found guilty of the malice murder of Jennifer Causey, an alternative count of felony murder, aggravated assault, and armed robbery. The felony murder count stood vacated by operation of law, and the trial court merged the aggravated assault count into the malice murder. Malcolm v. State , 263 Ga. 369, 371-374 4, 5 434 SE2d 479 1993. The trial court entered judgments of conviction for the remaining counts of malice murder and armed robbery, and, pursuant to OCGA § 17-10-7, imposed consecutive sentences of life imprisonment without parole. The trial court denied a motion for new trial, and Dempsey appeals.1 1. Construed in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that the victim, while working the night shift as a hotel desk clerk, was talking on the telephone with her friend Crystal Tucker Lee when the hotel’s maintenance man, who had been angry and had cursed at the victim the previous morning, twice interrupted to request supplies. Since it was late, the women thought that the requests were odd. The victim told Ms. Lee that the man’s name was “Miles,” that she felt nervous and scared, and that Ms. Lee should call 911 if something should happen to her. A few minutes later, the victim said that the man was back again, and then called the name “Miles” in a manner which expressed shock. Ms. Lee heard the telephone drop and what sounded like a baseball bat hitting a desk three or four times. When the victim did not respond, Ms. Lee called 911, and the call was transferred to the correct jurisdiction. The police arrived at the hotel one minute later, discovered the victim dead with openings in her skull, found Dempsey in his room, and arrested him. A pair of jeans taken from the room had a blood stain which was from the victim, according to subsequent DNA testing. The hotel’s cash drawer was empty, and money was missing. The finder of fact could infer that Dempsey had very recently hidden some money which police officers found under ivy at a fence on the premises. Both the money and a nearby shirt of Dempsey’s were dry, even though it had rained earlier that same evening and the fence and the ivy were wet. The jury was authorized to find that Dempsey was guilty of malice murder and armed robbery beyond a reasonable doubt and to the exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis save that of guilt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Turan v. State , 274 Ga. 725 1 559 SE2d 463 2002.
2. Dempsey contends that the trial court denied him a fair trial by improperly limiting his cross-examination of State witnesses in several instances.
