James Edward Blance was indicted on three counts of financial transaction card theft. A jury found him guilty of all three counts, and his amended motion for new trial was denied. He appeals, raising challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence, the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress, and the trial court’s failure to grant his motion for mistrial. We find no error, and we affirm the judgment of conviction entered on the jury’s verdict. 1. Blance challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. On appeal of a criminal conviction, the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict. Smith v. State , 257 Ga. App. 595 571 SE2d 817 2002. So construed, the evidence presented at trial showed that while waiting for a table at a crowded restaurant, the victim and her family sat at the bar. The victim placed her handbag on the stool next to hers and covered it with her jacket. She observed a man sitting near her. A bench in the lobby became available and the victim and her family moved away from the bar. The victim then observed three boys join the man at the bar. When the victim sought to retrieve a toy for her son from her handbag, she discovered that it was missing. She notified the hostess that her purse, containing three credit cards, had been taken and asked her to call the police. The victim described her bag as black with a brown handle worn on the shoulder.
A restaurant patron noticed two young boys coming and going from the dining room to the lobby. She thought it was odd that the younger of the boys, who was five or six, was carrying a shoulder bag. This witness saw the two boys whispering to each other. She remembered that she had seen the boys with a man in the bar, but did not see the man well enough to identify him. Another patron saw the boys “running and pushing” through the crowd and also thought it was strange that the younger boy was carrying a large handbag. She watched the boys run from the restroom area out to the parking lot with the bag and return to the restaurant without it. This patron overheard some talk about a stolen purse and described the one she had seen the boy carrying. The victim identified it from the description as hers.
