Griffin v. State

A Clayton County jury found Ted Lamar Griffin guilty of aggravated assault, battery, false imprisonment, and impersonating an officer. The charges arose when Griffin, out of anger, shot Raul Molina in the leg, then handcuffed him and beat him in the head with a pistol. Griffin appeals, raising eleven enumerations of error. Because each of Griffin’s enumerated errors lacks merit, we affirm his conviction.

1. Griffin first contends that, between his own testimony alleging self-defense and other evidence offered by the defense, a rational trier of fact could not have believed the testimony of the victim so as to find Griffin guilty of aggravated assault. This contention, however, goes to the issue of credibility and the weight to be given the testimony of the victim. This is an issue within the jury’s exclusive province. Norris v. State, 258 Ga. 889, 890 1 376 SE2d 653 1989. “Our role is limited to evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence, not reweighing it.” Jones v. State, 232 Ga. App. 630 502 SE2d 557 1998. The victim’s testimony supplied the essential elements of the offenses and was corroborated by six other witnesses. Any contradictory evidence was rejected by the jury, as reflected by its verdict. Accordingly, Griffin’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence fails. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979; Browning v. State, 236 Ga. App. 893 1 513 SE2d 779 1999.