The appellant, Steve Lee Beck, was convicted of the murder of Donnie Jones, of the aggravated assault of Ben Lawson, of the aggravated assault of Gene Cline, of three counts of the possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and of simple battery.1 On appeal, Beck contends, among other things, that the trial court erred in refusing to permit an expert employed by Beck to testify; in refusing to give Beck’s requested charge on voluntary manslaughter; and in permitting the State to introduce evidence of prior difficulties. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that these contentions are without merit, and we therefore affirm Beck’s convictions.
1. The evidence would have authorized the jury to find that Beck’s supervisor at the plant at which he worked requested Beck to work overtime to cover for an excused co-worker on the mornings of November 17 and November 18, 1994. Beck told his supervisor that he would not do so, and Beck’s supervisor told the victim, Donnie Jones, who was the production superintendent for the plant, of Beck’s refusal. Sometime before November 17, Jones talked to Beck, telling him that if he refused to work overtime on the two mornings in question, Beck faced the prospect of being fired. On the morning of November 17, Beck in fact refused to work overtime, and when Beck left the plant that morning, he told a co-worker that if he got fired he was going to “bust” the victim’s nose. On November 18, Beck brought a gun to work. When Jones saw Beck arrive at the plant, Jones approached Beck and asked Beck to come into Jones’s office. Jones had asked Gene Cline, a plant foreman, and Ben Lawson, a shift supervisor, to witness the termination of Jones, and Cline and Lawson were in Jones’s office when Jones and Beck arrived there. According to Cline and Lawson, Jones informed Beck that he was fired for insubordination. Jones also told Beck that he had his last check and separation papers, and that if Beck went to the union, he might be able to get his job back. Beck did not say anything in response, and Jones then reached out to give the check and separation papers to Beck. When he did so, Beck punched Jones in the forehead. According to Cline and Lawson, Jones staggered back, Beck advanced on him, and Jones scuffled with Beck, trying to push him away from him. No further blows occurred, and Jones asked Cline to get Beck off of him. Cline testified that he told Beck that there was “no use in fighting,” and that Beck then backed away from Jones. When Beck did so, Jones told Ben Lawson to call the sheriff and get Beck off the company’s property. Jones then stated that he would make the phone call himself, at which point Beck pulled out his gun and shot the victim three times. Cline testified that other than telling Beck that he was fired, Jones did not say anything to provoke Beck. In this regard, Beck also testified that Jones was not threatening to Beck when Jones approached him that night about firing him.
