Flournoy v. State

Carley, Justice.

After a jury trial, Emory Flournoy was found guilty of one count of felony murder and four counts of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life for the murder and to four twenty-year terms for the assaults. He appeals from the judgments of conviction and sentences entered by the trial court on the jury’s guilty verdicts.¹

1. Construing the evidence most favorably for the State and most strongly against Flournoy shows the following: After one of his companions had flagged down a jeep and exchanged words with the driver, Flournoy began firing a semi-automatic pistol. The driver of the jeep pulled away and the passengers ducked as they heard seven or eight shots and felt broken glass. A bullet struck one of the passengers in the back and he died shortly thereafter. Three of the surviving passengers identified Flournoy as the perpetrator, as did Flournoy’s companion who had flagged down the jeep. Based upon this evidence, a rational trier of fact was authorized to find proof of Flournoy’s guilt of the crimes charged beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979).

2. Flournoy urges that certain evidence was subject to a “continuing witness” objection and was erroneously allowed to go out with the jury. See Tibbs v. Tibbs, 257 Ga. 370 (359 SE2d 674) (1987). The record shows, however, that Flournoy raised no “continuing witness” objection either when the evidence was introduced or when it was in-eluded in the exhibits sent to the jury room. It follows that this issue has not been preserved for appeal. An enumeration of error “complaining of the admission of evidence or of documents going out with the jury presents nothing for decision by the Supreme Court where no objection is shown to have been made at trial.” Morris v. State, 200 Ga. 471 (1) (37 SE2d 345) (1946). Because the “continuing witness” issue was not preserved for review, any discussion of it in this appeal would constitute dicta and would not establish a binding precedent of this Court. See Dorsey v. City of Atlanta, 216 Ga. 778, 782 (119 SE2d 553) (1961); Moyers v. State, 186 Ga. 446, 459 (1) (197 SE 846) (1938).

Judgments affirmed.

All the Justices concur.

1 The crimes were committed on June 24,1994 and Flournoy was indicted on August 16, 1994. The guilty verdicts were returned on March 14,1995 and, on March 17, 1995, the judgments of conviction and sentences were entered thereon. The motion for new trial was filed on April 10,1995 and was denied on August 8,1995. The notice of appeal was filed on August 23, 1995 and the case was docketed in this Court on October 26, 1995. The appeal was submitted for decision on December 18, 1995.