Appeals court hears challenge to "in concert" element in aggravated-burglary conviction and dispute over undisclosed jail call

An appellate panel heard oral argument over whether the evidence supported Serena Hammond’s conviction for aggravated burglary "in concert with two or more persons," and whether a jail phone call referenced at trial but not disclosed in discovery requires reversal.

Defense counsel Jonathan Harwell told the court he would address three issues, two “sufficiency” challenges and a challenge to admission of a jail phone call. Harwell argued the State failed to prove the additional element that the two named codefendants, Rangel and Roe, knowingly joined Hammond in entering a home without consent and assaulting the occupant. "There was not proof beyond a reasonable doubt such that a jury could say that Mister Roe or Mister Rangel united with her in any plan to go inside the house and assault someone," Harwell said.

Harwell said the evidence at trial showed a confrontation that became violent and that other people…