Opinion
71651.
DECIDED FEBRUARY 5, 1986.
Kidnapping. Cherokee Superior Court. Before Judge Mills.
Philip C. Smith, for appellant.
Rafe Banks III, District Attorney, Wallace W. Rogers, Jr., Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Defendant and three co-defendants were charged with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault. Following a jury trial, defendant was acquitted of the aggravated assault counts. However, she was convicted of the two counts of kidnapping. After sentencing, defendant moved for a new trial. The motion was denied and defendant appealed. Held:
1. In her first enumeration of error, defendant contends the State failed to disprove defendant's coercion defense beyond a reasonable doubt. We disagree.
"Coercion involves the involuntary performance of a criminal act under fear of threats or menaces involving a direct danger to life or great bodily injury where the danger is abated only by the performance of the criminal act." Chambers v. State, 154 Ga. App. 620, 624 ( 269 S.E.2d 42). See OCGA § 16-3-26.
Viewed in a light favorable to the verdict, the evidence simply demonstrated that defendant did not participate in the criminal venture out of fear of threats or menaces involving a direct danger to her life or bodily injury. Accordingly, we find the evidence was sufficient to enable a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was a willing participant in and guilty of the two offenses of kidnapping. See generally Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560); Bradford v. State, 173 Ga. App. 792 (2) ( 328 S.E.2d 409).
2. In view of the evidence of concert of action of defendant and her co-defendants, the trial court did not err in charging the jury upon the law of conspiracy. Simpkins v. State, 149 Ga. App. 763, 768 (3) ( 256 S.E.2d 63).
Judgment affirmed. Carley and Pope, JJ., concur.