Johnson v. State

Richard Johnson, Jr. was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery and two counts of obstruction of an officer, in connection with the armed theft of two vehicles. He appeals from his convictions, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the armed robbery convictions, the court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized from his house pursuant to a search warrant, the court’s refusal to try the two armed robbery counts separately, and the court’s admission of a witness’ out-of-court statement as a prior consistent statement. None of the challenges has merit, so we affirm his convictions. 1. Johnson contends the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction as to the first armed robbery because the evidence at best placed him in the stolen vehicle, and that only the testimony of his co-defendant placed him there. As to the second armed robbery, he says the evidence implicating him was based almost entirely on the testimony of an informant without any determination made as to the informant’s veracity or motive. We find that the evidence was sufficient to support both convictions.

On appeal, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict, and an appellant no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence.1 This court determines whether the evidence is sufficient under the standard of Jackson v. Virginia 2 and does not weigh the evidence or determine witness credibility.3 Conflicts in the evidence are for the jury to resolve. 4