Earnest v. State

Clarke, Chief Justice.

Malisa Earnest, Terry Belcher, and Robert MacIntyre strangled Teresa Simmons to death. At separate jury trials, all three defendants were convicted of malice murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Earnest appeals. We affirm the conviction.

Earnest and Teresa Simmons, ages 17 and 15 respectively, ran away from their group home on January 11, 1988. They met Belcher after hitch-hiking to Atlanta. The two girls stayed with Belcher at his elderly grandmother’s home. Shortly thereafter, Earnest and Belcher began a sexual relationship.

Belcher testified that he was the “high…