A jury found Christopher Tucker guilty of aggravated assault upon a peace officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and several traffic offenses. The jury failed to reach a verdict on charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of cocaine. Tucker appeals, arguing that the evidence was not sufficient to support the conviction of aggravated assault upon a peace officer, evidence of a prior cocaine possession conviction should not have been admitted, and he was denied effective assistance of trial counsel. Because each of the enumerations is without merit, we affirm his convictions.
On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the verdict.1 So viewed, the evidence shows that a police officer was following Tucker’s car when he noticed that the taillight on Tucker’s car was broken. The officer activated the patrol car’s emergency lights, but Tucker did not stop. Instead, Tucker continued driving, making several turns, until he eventually stopped in a trailer park. Tucker jumped out of the car and ran to the back end of his car. The officer got out of the patrol car with his .45 caliber revolver drawn and approached Tucker. He ordered Tucker to get on the ground. Tucker kneeled down, as if he was going to lie down, but then grabbed the officer and pulled him to the ground. Tucker managed to get the officer’s revolver. As Tucker did so, however, the officer was able to eject the magazine from the gun. Tucker gained control of the gun, and the two struggled. Tucker ended up on top of the officer. The officer remarked that his life was more important than a traffic stop and that Tucker could just leave and the officer would not pursue him. Tucker said “no,” that he was going to kill the officer and then pointed the gun at him. The officer was afraid of Tucker, “believing at that point he could have killed me.” Tucker pulled the trigger, but the gun did not discharge. There was a round of ammunition in the gun, but the weapon did not fire because the magazine had been removed. The officer did not know where the magazine was at the time Tucker attempted to fire the gun. The men struggled again, and the officer was able to wrestle the gun away from Tucker. Tucker began beating the officer about the neck, head, and shoulders. When a second police officer arrived, Tucker got off of the officer and started to run. Before he could get away, though, the officer grabbed Tucker’s jacket. A blue bag containing two or three pieces of cocaine fell out of the jacket. When the altercation ended, officers found the gun’s magazine on the ground near where the two men had struggled.
