Archive for September, 2009
The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently had to determine if a suspect could be briefly detained where the facts showed that he was driving slowly and looking into the woods of an area where an alleged car thief was hiding. The court held that on these facts alone a person could not be detained.
In Thomas v. State, the defendant, Thomas, was convicted of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm during a crime, and obstructing a police officer. The ...
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The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently ruled that an eight year delay between the time of a defendant’s arrest date and trial date was presumptively prejudicial. The court went on to find that the state failed to rebut this presumption, and upheld the trial court’s dismissal of charges based on the right to a speedy trial.
In State v. Porter, the defendant, Porter, was arrested for allegedly molesting his child in 2000. He was indicted in 2001 and ...
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The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently held that a traffic stop is improper where the suspect simply parks in front of a residence where criminal activity has taken place.
In Pritchard v. State, the defendant, Pritchard, was convicted of a single count of possession of methamphetamine. On the day of Pritchard’s arrest, an unidentified person called the Newton County Sheriff’s Department to report suspicious vehicles around a residence that the police had previously identified as a “drug house.” ...
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The DeKalb County Recorder’s Court was plagued by a ticket scam earlier this year which led to the indictments of three employees and five other individuals. A grand jury recently concluded that the court is haunted by lax oversight and leadership problems which continue to make it vulnerable to fraud.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
The DeKalb County Recorder’s Court handles traffic tickets and misdemeanor crimes. In 2008, a review of the court found that millions of ...
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