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Leroy Wilson Iiiv.The State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A17A2092
DecidedJanuary 22, 2018
Reporter278 Ga. App. 650
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureSufficiency of the EvidenceIneffective Assistance of CounselMergerVacaturRemand
Case Summary

Leroy Wilson was convicted of attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault, entering an automobile to commit theft, and criminal damage to property after a masked gunman confronted a restaurant employee. The Court of Appeals held that circumstantial evidence, including an eyewitness identification, evidence linking ammunition to a recovered firearm, and Wilson’s possession of that firearm, supported the convictions. Wilson also claimed ineffective assistance and argued that the attempted-armed-robbery and aggravated-assault convictions should merge. The court rejected the sufficiency and counsel claims. It held, however, that the two convictions arose from the same act of pointing the gun at the victim and that aggravated assault required no element not already included in the charged attempt. The aggravated-assault conviction and sentence were therefore legally duplicative. The court affirmed in part, vacated that conviction and sentence, and remanded for resentencing with direction to merge the aggravated assault into the attempted armed robbery.

Opinion

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