Self-Representation and Faretta Waivers in Georgia
A criminal defendant has an independent constitutional right to represent themselves at trial, established by the United States Supreme Court in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975).…
A lexicon of Georgia criminal statutes
Georgia Criminal Law
The lexicon
150 entriesS
Sex Offender Registration and Electronic Exploitation in Georgia
A conviction for electronic exploitation of a child in Georgia carries a dual consequence that distinguishes it from many other criminal convictions: it triggers criminal penalties under the…
Sex Offender Registration in Georgia
Georgia maintains a statewide sex offender registry under O.C.G.A. § 42-1-12, a statute that defines who must register, how registration works, what restrictions apply to registrants, and how…
Sex Offender Supervision in Georgia
Sex offender registration and sex offender supervision are often treated as a single system, but they are legally distinct frameworks in Georgia, governed by different statutes and enforced…
Sexually Dangerous Predator Commitment in Georgia
The phrase "sexually dangerous predator" leads many readers to assume Georgia operates a civil commitment system similar to those found in states like Kansas or California, where certain…
Speedy Trial Rights and Demand in Georgia
Georgia offers two separate and independent paths for a criminal defendant to raise a speedy trial claim. One is a flexible constitutional balancing test that applies generally. The…
Spoliation of Evidence in Georgia Criminal Cases
When evidence in a criminal case is lost, destroyed, or never properly preserved by the government, the question of what remedy, if any, a defendant is entitled to…
Stalking and Aggravated Stalking in Georgia
Georgia addresses stalking through two related statutes that share the same underlying conduct but differ on a single critical fact: whether a court order, bond condition, or supervision…
Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine in Georgia
Georgia law contains two related but legally distinct statutes that are frequently confused with one another: a statewide rule removing any duty to retreat before using otherwise-justified force,…
Standing to Challenge Searches in Georgia
Before a Georgia court will examine whether a search was lawful, it must first answer a threshold question: does the person raising the challenge have the legal right…
State Habeas corpus (a court petition challenging the legality of detention) in Georgia
State habeas corpus is one of the more precise tools in Georgia's post-conviction landscape, and it is also one of the most frequently misunderstood, both in terms of…
Statute of Limitations for Georgia Criminal Charges
Every criminal charge in Georgia is subject to a deadline by which the state must commence prosecution, unless that charge falls into a category Georgia law exempts from…
Straw Purchases and Gun Trafficking in Georgia
Georgia law makes it a felony to arrange for someone else to buy a firearm on behalf of a person who is not legally entitled to make that…
Successive Habeas Petitions in Georgia
Georgia treats habeas corpus relief as a remedy that generally allows a petitioner one full opportunity to raise every available ground for relief. Once that opportunity has been…
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Technical vs. New Law Probation Violations in Georgia
When a Georgia probationer is accused of violating the terms of probation, the consequences that can follow depend heavily on what kind of violation is alleged. Georgia law…
Terry Stops and Consensual Encounters in Georgia
Not every interaction between a person and a police officer rises to the level of a constitutional seizure. Georgia applies a three-tier framework, drawn from Terry v. Ohio,…
The Reasonable Person Standard in Georgia Criminal Law
Georgia criminal law applies a "reasonably believes" standard in more than one context, most notably in the justification defense under O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21 and in the objective component…
Theft by Deception in Georgia
Georgia's theft by deception statute, O.C.G.A. § 16-8-3, reaches conduct well beyond a straightforward lie told to obtain property. The statute defines five distinct forms of deception, several…
Tolling for Minor Victims in Georgia Criminal Cases
Georgia's criminal statute of limitations does not run on a fixed clock for every case. For certain serious offenses committed against victims who are under the age of…
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Variance Doctrine in Georgia Criminal Cases
An indictment describes the charges a defendant must answer, but trial proof does not always track that description with perfect precision. When the proof at trial diverges from…
Vehicular Homicide and Feticide in Georgia
Georgia law extends its vehicular homicide framework to cover the death of an unborn child caused by vehicular conduct. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-393.1, the feticide-by-vehicle statute, mirrors the degree…
Vehicular Homicide in Georgia
Causing another person's death while driving does not result in a single, uniform charge under Georgia law. O.C.G.A. § 40-6-393 establishes a four-part structure for vehicular homicide, and…
Voir dire (the jury selection process) and Batson Challenges in Georgia
Jury selection in a Georgia criminal trial involves two distinct legal processes that are often discussed together but serve different purposes. Voir dire, the examination of prospective jurors,…
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Warrantless Arrest and Probable Cause in Georgia
Police in Georgia can, in certain defined circumstances, arrest a person without first obtaining a warrant from a judge. This authority is not unlimited. O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20 spells…
Warrantless Vehicle Searches in Georgia
A police officer who could not lawfully search a home without a warrant can, under the right circumstances, search a vehicle without one. This is not because vehicles…