The appellant, Broderick Smith, was convicted and sentenced for the offenses of felony murder, voluntary manslaughter, and the possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime stemming from the shooting death of John Winters.1 On appeal, Smith contends, among other things, that the trial court denied him his right to be present at all critical stages of the trial; that the trial court erred in having him handcuffed before the verdict was announced; and that the trial court should not have sentenced him for both the felony murder and voluntary manslaughter convictions. Because there is only one victim in this case, and because OCGA § 16-1-7 a prohibits multiple convictions for one crime, we agree that the trial court should not have sentenced Smith on both the felony murder and voluntary manslaughter convictions. Accordingly, we vacate the conviction and sentence for voluntary manslaughter. We conclude, however, that Smith’s remaining enumerations of error are without merit. We therefore affirm the trial court’s judgment in part and vacate it in part.
1. The evidence would have authorized the jury to find that Winters was killed during a fight with Smith at the intersection of Hill Street and Memorial Drive in Atlanta. According to several bystanders who witnessed the fight, Smith and Winters started fighting in a car that was stopped in the middle of the intersection. The vehicle then pulled into a nearby Amoco gas station. Smith and Winters continued to fight inside the car, but the passenger door opened, and Smith and Winters fell out of the car. Several witnesses testified that after Winters stopped fighting, Smith stood over him and shot him in the head. According to the witnesses, Smith then took a brown paper bag from one of the victim’s pockets and ran from the scene. A police officer arrived at the crime scene almost immediately after the shooting, and saw Smith running from the scene. The officer chased Smith on foot and caught him. The officer testified that Smith had a brown paper bag with cash on him, and that he the officer found a pistol on the ground near where he caught Smith. The pistol was determined to be the weapon that fired the shot that killed the victim.
