Laws that describe various crimes may be set out in both state statutes as well as federal statutes. Generally crimes that are “local” in nature such as burglary, assault, rape and murder are state law crimes, whereas interstate drug trafficking, organized crime and crimes that occur in multiple states are federal crimes. Sometimes, a defendant [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts, Trial issues by on Feb 15th, 2010. Comment. 
On Tuesday the unusual practices in Georgia trial courts, including disrespectful gifts to court personnel and the ejection of a defendant’s uncle, were the subjects of a pair of unsigned Supreme Court decisions.
In one of the Georgia cases, Presley v. Georgia, the Supreme Court came to a conclusion on two open issues concerning closed courtrooms.
The [...]
Filed under Blog, Georgia Courts by on Jan 20th, 2010. Comment.
In previous blog posts, I have discussed the case of Troy Anthony Davis, a Savannah man convicted of murdering a police officer in 1989. Mr. Davis current sits on Georgia’s death row, while attorneys pursue all available remedies.
Davis’ current (and possibly final) appeal rests in the United States Supreme Court. On June 29, 2009, however, [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts, Punishment issues, Trial issues by on Jul 9th, 2009. Comment.
A Georgia DUI charge does not focus solely on your blood alcohol level. In fact, there are two ways that a prosecutor can argue for a DUI conviction:
I. Blood alcohol above the legal limit – for drivers over the age of 21, a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher is considered a “per se” [...]
Filed under DUI laws, Georgia Courts by on Apr 13th, 2009. Comment.
In October of this year, I wrote a blog post about the Troy Anthony Davis capital murder case. At that time, Mr. Davis was scheduled to die, although his lawyers were actively seeking a stay in his execution.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals did, in fact, stay Mr. Davis’ execution, and on Tuesday, December 9, [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts, Trial issues by on Dec 18th, 2008. Comment.
One of the most frequent questions I hear from clients has to do with plea bargains vs. trials. If there is a fundamental flaw with the evidence to be used against you, or if the State’s witnesses are weak, the State may not be able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts, Pre-trial actions, Punishment issues by on Sep 26th, 2006. Comment.
In a gesture of appreciation to his fellow criminal defense lawyers, noted Marietta DUI lawyer Guy Sharpe has published his Motion for Full Information on the Intoxilyzer 5000. Guy states that he frequently receives calls about this Motion and he has released it to the DUI defense community as a "thank you" to the [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts, Intoxilyzer 5000 issues, Pre-trial actions by on Jun 22nd, 2006. 3 Comments.
Hello, my 19 year old son was stopped last weekend in Fulton County and taken to jail. He has been charged with DUI, reckless driving, speeding and several other charges. I am scared to death that this mistake will follow him the rest of his life. Will this affect his college admission? [...]
Filed under Georgia Courts by on May 11th, 2006. 1 Comment.
I am scared to death. I drive a truck for a beer distributor (!) and I got a DUI about two weeks ago (I was not on the job but my employer has a rule that if I am convicted of a DUI, I get fired). Can you help me?
Response: Most [...]
Filed under Arrest issues, DUI laws, Georgia Courts by on May 11th, 2006. 2 Comments.
