Moore v. State

Vaughn Anthony Moore appeals from the judgment entered after a jury found him guilty of armed robbery. He claims the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress, in failing to give a charge on a lesser included offense, and in sentencing him to life in prison. Moore also claims the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. For the following reasons, we conclude there was no reversible error and affirm. The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to support the verdict, was as follows. Reginaldo Hilario testified that he was about to enter his apartment when two men approached him. One of the men put a gun to his stomach and the other put his hand in his pocket and took $400. As the men were running away, Hilario started yelling for help and his nephew came out of the apartment. They began chasing the robbers and at some point were joined by police officers who finally caught the two men, Moore and co-defendant DeAngelo Lynch.

In his first statement to police, Moore said that he had just gotten off a bus when Lynch ran up to him. He said police later stopped the two of them as they were walking down the street. In a second statement, Moore admitted to the robbery but said he was only the lookout and Lynch pointed the gun at the victim while another man took the money out of the victim’s pocket. Moore stated that he did not know the name of the man who took the money from the victim. He said that the $273 the officers found on him was for selling fake crack cocaine.