Ronald Nealy appeals from denial of his motion for new trial following his conviction of aggravated assault.1
Viewed with all inferences in favor of the jury’s verdict, Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979, the evidence was that, on the evening of November 24, 1995, a group of people, including Nealy and Jefferson, was congregated in front of a neighborhood store at the corner of Lucille and Holderness in West End, an Atlanta neighborhood. Nealy, known as “Ron Ron,” was selling marijuana. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Clarence Poon was walking toward the intersection when a burgundy four-door Buick pulled up to the curb in front of the store. Four men got out of the car and at least one was carrying a firearm. One of the men, known as “Dray,” appeared to be trying to get behind Nealy. Nealy asked what was up and none of the men responded. Nealy then said “Okay, I got something for that,” and walked across the street toward a vacant apartment building. At that point, Jefferson crossed the street near Poon and both men were walking down Holderness. Jefferson saw Rodney, one of the four men in the car, come out of the store and start to get in the car. Poon told Jefferson to go back and tell these guys to leave because there was a weapon, which Poon described as an AK-47, pointed at them. As Jefferson walked back down the street, shots came from the vacant apartment building across the street from the store as well as from the Buick. Jefferson testified that “I saw Ron Nealy shooting a gun. He was like kneeled down and he was shooting out of the window at the car.” Jefferson ran across a vacant lot and saw Poon running down Holderness. Poon was struck in the back by a .40 caliber bullet and bled to death. The medical examiner opined that, based on the location of Poon’s wound and the bullet’s path through his body, Poon had been running up Holderness or crouching when hit. Further, in his opinion, the bullet which struck Poon was most likely fired from the apartment building. Spent .40 caliber shells were found by the police in an upstairs apartment near a window, as well as some .9 millimeter shells. Shells from a .9 millimeter were also found on the sidewalk in front of the store.
