Opinion
57397.
SUBMITTED MARCH 12, 1979.
DECIDED APRIL 9, 1979. REHEARING DENIED MAY 3, 1979.
Armed robbery, etc. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge McKenzie.
Robert M. Coker, for appellant.
Lewis R. Slaton, District Attorney, Joseph J. Drolet, R. David Petersen, Assistant District Attorneys, for appellee.
The defendant appeals his conviction for armed robbery and aggravated assault. Held:
1. The evidence was sufficient to sustain the verdict.
2. Under the circumstances here, it was within the trial judge's discretion as to whether the defendant and a co-indictee would be tried separately. Code Ann. § 27-2101 (Code § 27-2101; as amended through Ga. L. 1972, pp. 618-619). The denial of defendant's motion for severance was not an abuse of discretion in the absence of a clear showing of prejudice. Birge v. State, 143 Ga. App. 632, 634 (3) ( 239 S.E.2d 395).
3. Testimony of a police officer on cross examination that he knew the defendant previously did not place the defendant's character in evidence. Campbell v. State, 147 Ga. App. 554 (4) ( 249 S.E.2d 356); Creamer v. State, 229 Ga. 704, 708 ( 194 S.E.2d 73); Ogles v. State, 238 Ga. 716 ( 235 S.E.2d 384).
4. It is urged that the court erred in failing to define "assault" in the charge to the jury.
We held in Smith v. State, 140 Ga. App. 395, 396 ( 231 S.E.2d 143) "in every case of aggravated assault the essential element of simple assault must be stated in defining aggravated assault." However, in Peterkin v. State, 147 Ga. App. 437, 439 ( 249 S.E.2d 152) it was pointed out that while it is error to fail to charge on assault, such error was harmless where it was highly probable the error did not contribute to the judgment. In that case, as in the case sub judice, "[w]hether appellant's conduct constituted a simple assault was never a matter in controversy in the trial court." No basis for reversal was shown.
Judgment affirmed. Smith and Birdsong, JJ., concur.