Georgia Criminal Defense Blog

A police officer who was off-duty reportedly, warned Cobb County officials about a suspected drunk driver who they say has had several drunk driving violations in the past. Officials ended up arresting this driver, but not before he tried to take off and then hit a vehicle injuring two children, according to a news article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

Police arrested Christopher Wade Payne after he crashed into 41-year-old Annie McKelly’s van. The Marietta woman was driving with her 10-year-old twins – a boy and a girl in the back seat of her 1993 Plymouth Voyager. Both children were taken to an Atlanta area hospital. The girl had a broken ankle, but the boy had serious head injuries, the newspaper reported. Another sibling, a 11-year-old boy who was in the front passenger seat, was not hurt, the article said.

According to the newspaper, Cobb Police officer M. K. Smith was on his way home when he spotted Payne driving erratically. The officer alerted his colleagues using a walkie-talkie about the man he suspected to be a drunk driver. Patrol officers within minutes tracked down Payne’s truck and tried to make a stop. But Payne seemingly took off in a panic, ran a red light and hit the family’s van.

Payne was charged with driving under the influence, attempting to elude officers, aggravated assault on a police officer and serious injury by vehicle. Payne was also reportedly driving a stolen truck. Officials said Payne was a “habitual DUI violator.”

This person clearly did something you DO NOT do when an officer tries to stop you, which is to take off and trigger a pursuit. This type of behavior does nothing but worsen the already bad situation you are in. Even when you are stopped on suspicion of a DUI, the least you can do is be courteous to the officer. Getting into a fight with the officer is a sure ticket to get to jail sooner. Understand that you don’t have the right to an attorney right away. But what you do have the right to do is refuse to take a field sobriety test.

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Posted In: DUI Defense

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In an example of the worst kind of Atlanta Juvenile Criminal case, a 16 year old has been arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated assault in connection with two recent shootings at a MARTA bus stop in front of Atlanta’s McNair High School. The arrest came one day after the shooting of 15 year old student at the bus stop, located near the school’s entrance on Bouldercrest and Key roads, according to an Atlanta Journal Constitution story.

The boy, whose name was withheld by police, was picked up early on Wednesday for probation violation, said Dale Davis, spokesman for the DeKalb County School System. He was later charged with four counts of aggravated assault in connection with the school shootings. It was not immediately apparent if he was a student at Mcnair High.

The second shooting occurred first, and involved a 19 year old standing at the same MARTA bus stop Friday night. In that incident, students alerted officers at a basketball game inside the school that someone outside had a weapon. Moments later, as officers approached the bus stop, they heard two or three gunshots.

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Posted In: Juvenile Crimes

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In a disturbing example of child molestation, a high ranking aide to Governor Deval Patrick’s administration was accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the steam room of a Florida resort, according to an Atlanta Journal Constitution report. Carl Stanley McGee, 38, the assistant secretary for policy and planning was arrested December 28th after the suspected assault and has since been placed on unpaid leave.

“Mr. McGee was placed on unpaid administrative leave effective January 7th pending the outcome of the matter,” a spokeswoman for Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Dan O’Connell, said in a statement.

McGee met the boy, who police said is between 12 and 16 years old in a bathroom at the resort a day before the incident occurred. The next day the two ran into each other in the resort’s steam room. According to the boy, McGee sat next to him, removed his towel, rubbed the boy’s back and shoulders and performed oral sex on him. The boy’s father contacted police after his son informed him of the incident.

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Posted In: Sex Crime Defense

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In an example of the serious nature of Georgia White Collar Crime, a McDonough man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bank fraud on Monday, February 11th, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report. U.S. District Judge Timothy Baiten also ordered the businessman to pay $5.69 million in restitution.

Jason Slaughter, 43 was president of S&W International Foods, a Forest Park Company that sold meats and freshly baked biscuits. He was charged with 31 felony counts of fraud for his part in a scheme to defraud Branch Banking & Trust of approximately $6 million. By manipulating accounts receivable and inventories by more than 200 percent he was able to obtain a BB&T line of credit for his company.

To justify the scheme, S&W kept two sets of financial books – one they showed to BB&T auditors, one that reflected the true financial position of the company. The phony financial numbers enabled Slaughter to obtain a loan his company otherwise would not have qualified for. When the loan defaulted, the company assets that Mr. Slaughter pledged as collateral were found not to exist. An investigation by the FBI found that the bank lost more than $5.5 million as a result of Slaughter’s fraud.

Continue reading "Businessman Sentenced To 10 Years For Bank Fraud, Must Pay $5.69 Million" »

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Posted In: White Collar Crimes

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