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In the Interest of G. J.

The evidence supported a finding that the juvenile hit a middle school teacher in the back with his fist.

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G. J. was accused by a Department of Juvenile Justice petition of the offense of simple battery “in that on or about December 13, 2000, . . . the youth did intentionally make contact of an insulting and provoking nature to wit hit in the back with a fist, with the person of Barbara Kicklighter.” See OCGA § 16-5-23 a. Ms. Kicklighter was a teacher at Reidsville Middle School where G. J. attended. After a bench trial, G. J. was adjudicated delinquent for such offense. He appeals contending that the state failed to prove intent and, thus, the evidence was insufficient to support the juvenile court’s ruling. We disagree.

The intention with which an act is done is peculiarly for the jury or finder of fact. It is often difficult to prove with direct evidence an individual’s intent as it existed at the time of the act for which they are being prosecuted. Therefore, it is often necessary to prove such intent through the use of circumstantial evidence. Intent, which is a mental attitude, is commonly detectible only inferentially, and the law accommodates this. OCGA § 16-2-6. A finder of fact may infer that a person acted with criminal intent after considering the words, conduct, demeanor, motive, and all other circumstances connected with the act for which the accused is prosecuted. In order to support a conviction, such circumstantial evidence does not have to exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than the defendant’s guilt, but only reasonable hypotheses. OCGA § 24-4-6. Whether a hypothesis is reasonable is a question for a the finder of fact, and such finding will not be disturbed on appeal unless the guilty verdict is unsupportable as a matter of law.

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