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Sears v. State

The evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, was sufficient to authorize the jury to find the defendant guilty of malice murder, rather than voluntary manslaughter, as well as aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

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Appellant Kevin Sears was convicted of malice murder for the shooting death of William Preston Cowart and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against Cowart’s fiance, Nancy Lorinda Hilliard. Appellant was also charged with simple assault against Bridget Cowart Bridget, who was Appellant’s girlfriend and Cowart’s niece, but the jury acquitted Appellant of that charge. Appellant contends that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions and that there was a fatal variance between the allegations of the indictment and the proof at trial with respect to the aggravated assault charge. We affirm.1

1. a Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdicts, the evidence at trial showed the following. On Saturday night, June 25, 2011, Appellant and Bridget went out drinking with Cowart and Hilliard. As the night went on, the two couples split up, with Bridget driving Appellant in her car to a party at his sister’s house and Cowart driving Hilliard in Hilliard’s SUV to a different party. Appellant’s sister later asked him to leave her house because he was being rowdy.

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