Georgia Criminal Defense Blog

Authorities in New Orleans last week arrested an Augusta man on suspicion of impregnating his girlfriend’s teenage daughter, according to an article in the Augusta Chronicle. Police arrested 38-year-old James Wiley and extradited him to Georgia after charging him with one count of child molestation.

Investigators say the girl was only 14 years old when the alleged incident occurred. The state of Georgia’s permissible age for sexual consent is 16. Authorities got wind of it in January 2005 when someone working at the Augusta Pregnancy Care Center called the police. A nurse found out from a conversation with the girl that her mother’s boyfriend was responsible for the pregnancy, the news report said. Officials also performed DNA tests on the girl and her child after its birth in June 2005 and determined that Wiley is the father.

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Posted In: Sex Crime Defense

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Camden police arrested a man and charged him with drunk driving after they observed he was slow to pick up his fast food at a drive-through lane at a McDonald’s restaurant, according to a news article in The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

According to the police report, the arresting officer said he found 32-year-old Terrance Forte asleep inside the car with the engine running and his right foot on the brake. And when the officer tried to wake him up, Forte reportedly offered him $10 for the food order, possibly believing that he was at the drive-through counter. Restaurant employees called the police at about 12:30 a.m. on Saturday after they waited 15 minutes for the man to drive from one window to the next, the article said.

Officers checked his blood alcohol level and it registered at 0.19, more than twice the legal limit of .08, according to the news report. Forte was cited for his third drunk driving charge and later released.

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Posted In: DUI Defense

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Lindsay Lohan recently added to the seemingly never-ending list of celebrities arrested for driving under the influence. She was arrested early Saturday morning on DUI charges after crashing her Mercedes convertible on a Sunset Boulevard curb, according to an article posted on MSNBC’s website.

While Lohan was injured in the accident and admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment, the two passengers in her car escaped unhurt. No other cars were involved in the crash, according to this report.

Unfortunately, this accident is bad news for Lohan because it’s her third in two years. But it’s allegedly the only one where she is at fault. The article also quotes Lt. Mitch McCann speaking later at a news conference, about the accident, indicating Lohan, 20, was possibly driving above the speed limit and that a drug, identified to most likely be cocaine, was found at the scene of investigation. McCann did not disclose Lohan’s blood-alcohol level and said she was citied for misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and then released upon her admission to the hospital.

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Posted In: DUI Defense

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Rep. Ben Harbin was arrested and charged with a DUI on May 20 after he swerved off of an Atlanta street and ran into a pole, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. According to police reports, Harbin smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and had trouble keeping his balance soon after the incident.

The House Appropriations Committee chairman kept saying: “I just want to go home” and refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test, the newspaper article said. Harbin, 43, told police he had “looked down at the floor and when he looked up he saw a pedestrian in the roadway, slammed on the brakes and veered into the pole.”

Officials asked him to perform a field sobriety test, during which officials say he could not maintain his balance. Emergency medical technicians, who examined Harbin for injuries, sent him to the local hospital as a precaution. At the hospital, the congressman declined to take the blood alcohol test. Harbin was booked on suspicion of drunk driving and then released on a $1,200 bail. He now faces charges of driving under the influence, striking a fixed object and failure to maintain lane. A statement he released this week said he regretted the accident and that he thanks his family and friends for their support during this difficult time.

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Posted In: DUI Defense

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Last week a Florida judge sentenced a 33-year-old woman to 15 years in state prison, the maximum sentence for a DUI Manslaughter charge. According to an article in The Tampa Tribune Nicole Harris Hall was reportedly drunk when she drove through a stop sign and hit the car Margaret L. Caouette was driving. Caouette, 75, who was driving home from her job as a Wal-Mart greeter died in the crash.

Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarotta made it clear that he carefully considered Hall’s previous crimes and her attitude the night of the accident before deciding to hand her the maximum sentence.

“You have a history of bad decisions and bad choices,” the judge reportedly told Hall. “That’s very difficult to look past in this kind of a case.”

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A Piedmont Judicial Circuit Juvenile Court Judge has ruled that a 15-year-old high school student, who wreaked havoc on campus when he strolled into the office with what is believed to be an explosive device, will be tried as an adult.

According to an Associated Press news report posted on the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s website, the judge reportedly sent the case from juvenile court to superior court based on testimony he heard during a closed hearing on Monday. Prosecutors argued that the student, identified only as “Andrew” because he is a minor, should be tried as an adult because he was old enough to know that he was putting the lives of fellow students in danger by bringing such a device to school, the news report said.

Jefferson Police Chief Joseph Wirthman told the judge that he would make the recommendation that the teenager be tried as an adult because “he made an adult decision.” The teen reportedly walked into Jackson Comprehensive High School’s administrative offices on April 11 and told school officials that he had a bomb.

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Posted In: Weapons Charges

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A joint effort by law enforcement officials from Georgia and Ohio led to the arrest of 70 suspected drug dealers last Wednesday, in Muscogee County. The undercover operation, set to become the largest in the last 20 years for the county, was led together by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the Metro Narcotics Task Force, the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office and the Columbus Police Department.

According to a news article posted on The Ledger-Enquirer’s website, Police Chief Ricky Boren of the Columbus Police Department and Sheriff Ralph Johnson of Muscogee County acted on complaints from area residents over the increasing narcotics trade in public housing developments and requested assistance from the GBI. The GBI, with its extensive experience in organizing and conducting large-scale undercover stings, brought in additional funding for the operation to the tune of over $120,000; some from their grant money as well as some confiscated drug money.

The undercover investigation had officers successfully posing as drug buyers in 2006 and then tagging 100 street-level drug dealers for arrest later. Bill Malueg, deputy director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, reportedly said that by the completion of the entire operation 80 more arrests are likely to be made and over 400 drug-related charges filed. The investigation that has been ongoing for the last 10 months has also netted drugs and weapons and led to the identification of an additional 30 drug dealers.

An operation such as this, while having the potential to deliver sensational results, is also enormously complex and requires the greatest level of coordination. Needless to say, just about any number of things can go wrong during such a massive operation involving several law enforcement agencies, a variety of witnesses and informers.

If you have been arrested on a drug related charge in Georgia, and would like legal representation please call us for a free consultation.

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Posted In: Drug Defense

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It was a long wait for Robert Clark, who spent 24 years in Georgia prisons for a crime that he did not commit. Clark finally got his compensation last week, according to an article published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a resolution last week to pay Clark $1.2 million after he was cleared in 2005 by DNA evidence which showed he wasn’t involved in a violent 1982 Cobb County rape.

Aimee Maxwell of the Georgia Innocence Project told the newspapers, “Clark will be very satisfied with this result and with the succesful end to the process”. The soft-spoken Clark came to the Capitol a few times to watch the bill make its way through the General Assembly. Legislators were taken up by his humble attitude, his calmness in the face of his wrongful conviction and his patience despite spending a good deal of his life in prison. He received a hearty round of applause in the chambers and was even hugged by some of the lawmakers, the newspaper reported.

Georgia Innocence Project members have volunteered to help Clark manage the $1.2 million, which he will receive in installments over 15 years. Meanwhile Clark will continue to work in construction and will probably buy a house, Maxwell said. The money, she hopes, will help Maxwell rebuild a life that was left in shambles by a wrong conviction.

To date the Georgia Innocence Project has helped free 202 wrongfully convicted people using modern DNA technology. Every year hundreds, if not thousands, of people are wrongfully arrested and convicted for a variety of reasons – from mistaken identity to false testimony.

Don’t become a statistic. If you have been arrested or charged with a crime in Georgia, call us for a free consultation. Each day you delay may cost you dearly. Our aggressive and experienced Georgia criminal defense lawyers have the legal expertise it takes to get you the best possible result. We focus on getting your case dismissed!

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Posted In: Wrongfully Accused

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Denver Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall says he is still frustrated that a dispute with his girlfriend had developed into a public spectacle. However, to Marshall's relief, the charges of false imprisonment from a domestic dispute were dropped May 24, according to an article published in the Rocky Mountain News. Marshall was quoted as saying the arrest was ridiculous and that the officer had no legitimate reason to arrest him.

The incident occurred on March 26 outside of Marshall’s house when his girlfriend, Rasheedah Watley, after an argument with Marshall, got into a cab with what Marshall says was his Blackberry phone. Marshall’s attorney says the player then tried to stop the cab from driving away and at one point pounded on the hood of the taxi, but never physically threatened Watley in any way. Prosecutors said the charges were dismissed because Marshall completed anger management classes.

But Marshall’s attorney says the domestic violence charges were dismissed because they were not legitimate in the first place. Marshall said he was just trying to get his cell phone back from his girlfriend. He said the incident taught him the importance of controlling his emotions in high-stress situations and admitted he was partially responsible for the situation escalating to that level. But, he added, there was no physical attack or threat.

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Posted In: Domestic Violence

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