Case Name: GEIGER v. THE STATE
Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Decision Date: 1997-05-05
Citations: 268 Ga. 8
Docket Number: S97A0568
Parties: GEIGER v. THE STATE.
Judges: All the Justices concur.
Reporter: Georgia Reports
Volume: 268
Pages: 8–9

Head Matter:
S97A0568.
GEIGER v. THE STATE.
(485 SE2d 749)

Opinion:
Carley, Justice.
.Hollis Geiger was tried before a jury and found guilty of one count of malice murder and several counts of aggravated assault. For the murder, the trial court sentenced Geiger to life and, for the aggravated assaults, it sentenced him to consecutive 20-year terms. Geiger's motion for a new trial was denied and he appeals from the judgments of conviction and sentences entered by the trial court on the jury's guilty verdicts.
1. Citing Edge v. State, 261 Ga. 865 (2) (414 SE2d 463) (1992), Geiger urges that the trial court erred in giving a sequential charge. A review of the transcript shows, however, that, when the trial court inquired if there were any objections to its charge, Geiger's counsel replied that he had none and did not reserve the right to object later. Accordingly, Geiger waived the right to enumerate any portion of the charge as error on appeal. Golden v. State, 263 Ga. 521 (2) (436 SE2d 11) (1993). Moreover, Edge has no applicability where, as here, the conviction is for malice, rather than felony, murder. McGill v. State, 263 Ga. 81, 82 (3) (428 SE2d 341) (1993). See also Jackson v. State, 267 Ga. 130, 133 (12) (475 SE2d 637) (1996).
2. Geiger enumerates the general grounds. Construing the evidence most strongly in favor of his guilt shows the following: Believing that his brother was being held at gunpoint in an apartment complex, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He armed himself with an assault rifle and went to the apartment complex. Upon his arrival, he encountered a crowd. He began firing the rifle, wounding several persons and killing one. There was no evidence that he fired either in self-defense or from provocation. According to him, he began firing because he thought he heard gunfire, but the only bullet casings found were those fired from Geiger's rifle. In his testimony, he admitted that he fired the rifle from no other reason than panic. This evidence authorized the trier of fact to find proof of Geiger's guilt of the malice murder and aggravated assaults beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979). See also Hall v. State, 264 Ga. 85 (1) (441 SE2d 245) (1994); Golden v. State, supra at 521 (1).
Judgments affirmed.
All the Justices concur.
Decided May 5,1997.
Coleman C. Eaton, Jr., for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Carl P. Greenberg, Assistant District Attorney, Michael J. Bowers, Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Angelica M. Woo, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
Geiger committed the acts on July 18, 1993 and the grand jury indicted him on October 29, 1993. The jury returned its guilty verdicts on December 15,1994 and the trial court entered its judgments of conviction and sentences on December 20, 1994. Geiger filed his motion for new trial on January 13,1995 and the trial court denied that motion on August 7, 1995. Geiger filed his notice of appeal on September 5, 1995 and the case was docketed in this Court on January 6, 1997. Geiger submitted his appeal for decision on March 3,1997.