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Criminal Law

Georgia Criminal Law Blog

For people accused of crimes in Gerogia and the lawyers defending them.
By Rob Leonard and John Barrett

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Last Entry: April 21, 2009 at 20:35:24

Arizona v Gant - limitation of search incident to arrest

Posted on April 21, 2009
Arizona v. Gant - Click here to read the full opinion.Today the U.S. Supreme Court limited the circumstances under which officers may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle after it’s driver had been arrested. The Court ruled that an officer can only search a vehicle if it is for officer safety or if there [...

Helio Castroneves acquitted on tax evasion charges

Posted on April 18, 2009
After a 7 week trial, Helio Castroneves was acquitted of the federal tax evasion charges he was facing. The two time Indy 500 winner and Dancing with the Stars Champion had this to say after the trial: It’s been a long seven weeks. I’m a foreign person and I’ve been judged in a foreign country...

Police Officer?s conviction overturned in the Kathryn Johnston case.

Posted on January 15, 2009
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/01/15/tesler_conviction_overturned.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

The whittling away of the exclusionary rule

Posted on January 14, 2009
Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided Herring v US The Court basically extended the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule to cases where the police make negligent decisions that violate the Fourth Amendment.

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Brian Nichols avoids the death penalty - what now?

Posted on December 13, 2008
Today Judge Jim Bodiford sentenced Brian Nichols to four life sentences without parole, seven life sentences plus 485 years all running consecutive to one another. Brian Nichols will never see the outside world again. The Judge suggested that the Feds house him at the Federal Supermax prison in Colorado, although he has been convicted of [...

Another Great Order

Posted on June 09, 2008
Once in a while you come across something that is just too funny to not pass on to others. This has nothing to do with criminal law, but this Judge certainly sounds like he has a good sense of humor. For those of you not familiar with Texarkana, it is situated on the state line [...

More on Curtis Osborne who is scheduled for execution Wednesday - Time Magazine

Posted on June 02, 2008
By David Von Drehle (click here for link) In 1990, Curtis Osborne, a small-time cocaine dealer and addict, killed two people in a dispute over $400. His crime revulsed the town of Griffin, Georgia, one measure of which was the bigoted remark a local inmate reported hearing at the jail: “That little nigger deserves the chair...

Quote of the day

Posted on June 02, 2008
“We interpret ambiguous criminal statutes in favor of defendants, not prosecutors.” Justice Antonin Scalia in US v. Santos decided June 2, 2008.

Georgia Death Penalty - recent cases in the news

Posted on June 01, 2008
On the heels of commuting Samuel David Crowe’s sentence to life without parole, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles is being asked to spare another defendant’s life. Curtis Osborne has an execution date of June 4, 2008. Among his claims are the allegation that his court appointed lawyer, Johnny Mostiler,was a racist [...

An interesting approach to physical fitness in prison

Posted on May 28, 2008
This video (and 23 others) have been filmed in a prison in the Philippines. They call it a “non-violent” approach to rehabilitation. Hey if you got to go to prison…might as well learn to dance while you are there.

Crooked Cop goes to prison

Posted on May 23, 2008
Atlanta cop sentenced to 4½ years in prison Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) ? A city police officer was sentenced Thursday to 4½ years in prison for lying to investigators about a botched drug raid that ended in the shooting death of a 92-year-old woman...

Attorney Client Privilege

Posted on April 16, 2008
CHICAGO - For nearly 26 years, the affidavit was sealed in an envelope and stored in a locked box, tucked away with the lawyer’s passport and will. Sometimes he stashed the box in his bedroom closet, other times under his bed. It stayed there ? year after year, decade after decade...

Pa. judge sentences 3 to learn English

Posted on March 27, 2008
A judge known for creative sentencing has ordered three Spanish-speaking men to learn English or go to jail. The men, who faced prison for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, can remain on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs, Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr...

Harper v. Daubert - the answer to an equal protection problem

Posted on March 10, 2008
See Opinion here. Mason et. al. v. Home Depot et. al; S07A1486 The issue is that the standard for experts in a criminal case is governed by a Georgia case called Harper. The standard in civil cases is governed by Daubert, a federal case. The court holds that it is not an equal protection violation because all criminal [...

New Jersey Abolishes the Death Penalty

Posted on December 17, 2007
Read the Yahoo.com article here.

Georgia seeks to toughen parole rules.

Posted on November 09, 2007
ATLANTA (AP) _ Georgia’s crowded prison population is expected to swell even larger over the next few years under new parole guidelines designed to keep the state’s worst violent offenders behind bars longer. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles on Thursday gave tentative approval to new rules that would use a formula aimed at calculating [...

Kid Rock arrested.

Posted on October 22, 2007
This is from WSB. DeKalb County police and many others want to see exactly what recording artist Kid Rock was doing at a local Waffle House restaurant.Police say musician Kid Rock was arrested after a brawl at the restaurant and spent about 12 hours in jail before being released on bond...

UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE, ARTICLE 32 VS. THE CRIMINAL GRAND JURY

Posted on October 18, 2007
A U.S. Marine from the metropolitan Atlanta Area has been in our local news lately because he has been charged by the military with the murder in connection with a military operation in Iraq in which he was involved. He is currently at a Marine base in Hawaii where his court martial and related [...

Cobb County Jail clamps down on illegal aliens

Posted on July 29, 2007
Story from the AJC here. Maria Rivera sits in the Cobb County Jail, facing deportation after a traffic stop. If the Mableton mother of three, who is here illegally from Mexico, had been pulled over in any other county in Georgia, she likely would have bailed out and gone on with her life...

Douglas County DA David McDade is taking some heat for his handling of the Wilson case.

Posted on July 12, 2007
Below is a story from the Associated Press. David McDade has handed out some 35 copies of a video of teenagers having sex at a party. McDade is no porno kingpin, but a district attorney. And he says Georgia’s open-records law leaves him no choice but to release the footage because it was evidence in one of [...

New Jersey man?s conviction overturned after serving 22 years for a crime he didn?t commit.

Posted on July 09, 2007
Story from MSNBC here. DNA evidence has exonerated its 205th American that has served time for a crime that they did not convict. He confessed after 30 hours of interrogation. We need to take a hard look at police interview tactics in this country.

John Mark Karr arrested in Sandy Springs

Posted on July 09, 2007
A simple battery wouldn’t normally be news around here, but the media is still fascinated by John Mark Karr. He is the man that falsely confessed to the killing of Jon Benet Ramsey. Read the story here from Yahoo.

Violent Crime rises in Marietta

Posted on June 06, 2007
http://www.mdjonline.com/articles/2007/06/06/268/10261150.prt

The Presumption of Guilt

Posted on April 11, 2007
You can’t really have a blog dedicated to criminal defense work and not mention the Duke “rape” case today. As everyone with a radio or television knows, the charges against these young men were dismissed today. There lives however have been changed forever...

Bond Reduced For Accused ?Barbie Bandit? - News

Posted on March 29, 2007
Bond Reduced For Accused ‘Barbie Bandit’ - News Heather Johnston’s bond was reduced to $10,000.00 for the theft in which she was involved. She was also ordered to live with her parents and obey a strict cerfew. Apparantly, after the high-profile theft, they gave some money to the homeless.

Georgia attempts to make it easier to sentence someone to death

Posted on January 31, 2007
House Bill 185 introduced by Rep. Barry Fleming is an attempt to re-write Georgia’s long standing and deeply-rooted law of requiring unanimous verdicts. Interestingly, it seeks to rewrite the law where unanimous verdicts are needed the most, Death Penalty cases...

Atlanta cop lied to get warrant in shooting death

Posted on January 15, 2007
The shooting of an elderly lady in Atlanta takes a disgusting turn. This from the AJC. An Atlanta police narcotics officer has told federal investigators at least one member of his unit lied about making a drug buy at the home of an elderly woman killed in a subsequent raid, according to a person close [...

How not to rob a liquor store.

Posted on December 08, 2006
Now this is funny! http://www.glumbert.com/media/badrobber

Juries are ?unsympathetic? to women who claim rape after drunken binge - Law - Times Online

Posted on December 07, 2006
Juries are ‘unsympathetic’ to women who claim rape after drunken binge - Law - Times Online Check out this interesting article.

Man ordered to wear ?Sex Offender? T-shirt

Posted on November 06, 2006
Man ordered to wear “sex offender” T-shirt | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com It was only a matter of time! $100.00 says within 2 years a bill gets introduced in our legislature requiring this as a punishment for sex offenders.

Ion Scanners

Posted on October 19, 2006
I have recently run across a new device that is being employed in the war on drugs. The ION SCANNER. This device has grown popular in the prison systems to screen visitors at the prison gates. Many false positives are being reported. One study confirms that false “positives can occur with baker’s poppy [...

False/secret compartments in motor vehicles.

Posted on August 16, 2006
On April 18, 2006 O.C.G.A. 16-11-112 became effective. It makes it a felony punishable by 1-2 years and a $10,000.00 fine. It reads: 16-11-112. (a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1)(A) ‘False or secret compartment’ means any enclosure which is integrated into or attached to a vehicle and the purpose of the compartment [...

Lunch Anyone?

Posted on August 11, 2006
This is an Order that you have to read. Click here.

Hilarious Notice of Appeal from a Pro Se

Posted on August 02, 2006
Check it out here.

Tortured Siler gets sentenced to 20 years.

Posted on July 13, 2006
Torture victim/drug dealer, Lester Siler (the man that I wrote about here) got a 20 year sentence for selling drugs. See the LaFollette Press article here. Thanks to John Steakley for the update.

Sex Offender saga ? motion to certify a class

Posted on June 27, 2006
The brief is here. There has been a TRO entered for the 8 named plaintiffs. That means that they are the only 8 that are safe this coming Saturday. If the Judge grants this motion, then everyone on the registry will be added to the suit and the class will be formed...

SCHR seeks preliminary injunction for plaintiffs on the sex offender registry.

Posted on June 22, 2006
Here is the brief in support of a preliminary injunction on HB 1059.

Southern Center for Human Rights files Federal class action suit to stop enforcement of sex offender bill in Georgia.

Posted on June 20, 2006
The Southern Center for Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia have filed a class action in Federal Court seeking an injunction to prevent enforcement of HB 1059, which is set to become law on July 1, 2006. The injunction sought is both a temporary and permanent injunction...

Davis v. Washington - U.S. Supreme Court - Confrontation clause

Posted on June 19, 2006
Click here to read the full opinion of the Supreme Court. Today the U.S. Supreme Court decided Davis v. Washington (Slip Opinion 05-5224) and Hammon v. Indiana (Case No. - 05-5705, which those of us that deal with any cases involving domestic violence have been anxiously awaiting for...

Guns N? Roses song played in murder trial as prosecutors try to prove a husband killed his wife.

Posted on June 19, 2006
Guns N’ Roses song played in murder trial as prosecutors try to prove a husband killed his wife on CourtTV.com I am a big proponent of using technology in the courtroom. Well, our friends on the other side of the courtroom are starting to catch on...

Hudson v. Michigan - U.S. Supreme Court - exclusionary rule does not apply to knock-and-announce violations.

Posted on June 15, 2006
Today the United States Supreme Court decided Hudson v. Michigan (Slip opinion 04-1360). The opinion was authored by Justice Scalia in four parts. Thomas, Alito, Roberts concurred with all four parts, while Kennedy concurred with only parts One, two and three and concurred in Judgment...

FBI abandons gun shot residue (GSR) testing.

Posted on May 26, 2006
Story from Baltimore Sun - In a somewhat surprising move, the FBI has distanced itself from another test once regarded as a reliable test. They will no longer be performing gun shot residue analysis. The change in March when it was communicated to the field offices, but has not been publicized...

My new blog ? www.gaduiblog.com

Posted on May 23, 2006
It is officially up and running and is dedicated to my primary area of practice, DUI defense. Check it out at www.gaduiblog.com

I am meth. Poem by unknown author.

Posted on May 19, 2006
The following poem is rumored to have been authored by a teenage meth addict who died with the needle still in her arm. While I don’t believe that, the message is all too true. While probably not a good bedtime story for my 3 year old daughter, if you have a teenager, you would be [...