Colquitt County murder conviction upheld by Georgia Supreme Court

ATLANTA — Several murder convictions were upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday, including that of Alfonso Moore of Colquitt County.

Following a jury trial, Moore was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and various other offenses in connection with the shooting death of Dominga Trejo and the theft of her truck.

On appeal, Moore contended that the trial court erred by allowing a witness for the prosecution to sit at its table during the trial, and that the trial court erred by allowing prosecutors to make improper comments during its closing argument.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the evidence reveals that, on Nov. 2, 2012, Trejo drove to a convenience store to pick up her husband from work. Before her husband was able to meet her, she had been shot four times, allegedly by Moore.

The opinion said gunshots were heard by witnesses, who also saw Moore driving away in Trejo’s truck. The victim’s body was found later in the evening lying in the road toward the back of a nearby trailer park. Moore admitted to stealing the truck at the scene, but maintained his innocence in regards to Trejo’s death.

In the opinion issued Monday, the Court said the evidence was sufficient enough “to enable a rational trier of fact to find Moore guilty of all of the crimes of which he was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Moore contends the trial court erred by allowing the primary investigator in the case to sit at the prosecution table in violation of the rule of sequestration. The opinion states that the prosecution explained to the court that the investigator was there to assist in the orderly presentation of the case, which involved more than 30 witnesses and a “significant” amount of paperwork and CDs — which the state’s highest court found no fault in.

Moore also argued that the trial court erred by allowing prosecutors to comment during its closing argument on a surveillance video that had been admitted into evidence at trial. However, the record reveals that the prosecutors did nothing more than draw reasonable deductions from evidence presented, which the Court said Monday is entirely proper during closing arguments.