GA - Woman (Eddie Manley) fires shots to "send message" to sex offender

Eddie L. Manley

Original Article

03/31/2015

By Sawsha Stephens

Madison County Sheriff officers arrested a 61-year-old Madison County woman after she fired gun shots at a registered sex offender she didn't want on her property.

A deputy was called out to a home on Paoli Road where a resident claimed his neighbor Eddie L. Manley had shot him in the foot.

The man suffered non-life threatening injuries with reported cuts on his toes caused by a pellet.

According to police reports the victim said Manley's boyfriend allowed him to come to the house to gather some belongings he left while in prison and while collecting his items, he said Manley exited her home and told him to leave,

The man said he then heard gun shots and fled from the home, but didn't know he had been wounded until later.

When Manley was questioned she admitted to using a loaded handgun to “get the message across to stay off her property.”

Manley told deputies that the man lied about why he was in prison and she had warned him to never come on her property. She claims when she saw him, she became angry

Manley has been charged with aggravated assault, making a terroristic threat and pointing a pistol at another.

GA - New business owner looking for employees just out of jail

Original Article

02/06/2014

By Jim Wallace

ALBANY (WALB) - An Albany businessman hopes to fill his new business with employees who are on probation.

Willie Ross says if more businesses hire folks getting out jail it will reduce crime.

Ross said he knows men and women getting out of jail have a hard time finding a job. He thinks giving them a chance will improve the community.

Fredric Barnes said finding a steady job since getting out of jail has been tough.

"I want to work. Because that's the only way you are going to have something," said Barnes. "I done been down that road over some years, and I'm just trying to do better."

Willie Ross, in the process of opening his new business at 313 West Broad Avenue, said when Barnes came in asking for work, his story touched him.

"He was in tears," recalled Ross. "Saying he didn't want to rob nobody or he didn't want to steal nothing from nobody. So why not give him a chance."

A chance to rebuild their lives is what most people coming out from behind bars want, but a job can be the toughest part of starting that process.

Willie Ross said he understands their problem, and believes if these people get jobs they will not return to crime. So he is putting his new business and money on the line, to give some folks that chance.

"I have 9 positions open, and I'm going to try to fill as many of them as I can with people who are on probation," said Ross. "That can't be hired nowhere else."

Ross said he calls his new business "It's About Time Vegetables and More", because his father George Ross tried decades ago to open a vegetable stand downtown, but no one would rent him a store because of his race. Barnes said he is glad that Ross is providing an opportunity for him.

"The Lord finally just blessed me, when Mr. Ross came, talked to me, and said are you ready to go to work," said Barnes "And I said, yes sir."

Ross challenges other business owners to do the same.

"I think if everybody pulled together like I'm trying to, then we'll have a better Albany," said Ross.

Ross will open his new store March 1st.

GA - Georgia police strip search drivers during minor traffic stops

Cavity search

Original Article (Video available)

01/31/2014

By Mikael Thalen

An investigation out of Georgia has uncovered multiple police departments engaged in strip searches as well as searches inside the pants of drivers pulled over for minor traffic violations.

“He was like, ‘Just unbuckle all your clothes’ and put his hands down inside my pants,” Terry Phillips told Channel 2 Action News.

While sitting in the passenger seat after his wife was pulled over for a suspended registration, Phillips was unexpectedly ordered to exit the vehicle by Forest Park police. Coming up empty on a vehicle search, police suddenly turned their attention back towards Phillips, demanding he submit to a search as well.

Expecting a legal, outside the clothes pat down, Phillips consented to the officer’s requests, only to have the officer demand he pull down his pants on the side of the road.

“That’s illegal, man, you can’t do that. You can’t do that,” Phillips told the officer.

Noting that Phillips was aware of his rights, the officer suddenly claimed to smell marijuana, demanding Phillips remain still as he continued his illegal search.

Although officers are allowed to pat down the outside of clothing to check for weapons, the officer clearly violated Phillips’ rights by demanding he remove his clothing. Unsurprisingly, no marijuana was found on Phillips or in the vehicle.

“That’s a general strip-search, which you’re not allowed to do unless it’s an emergency or it’s done in a controlled environment by professional people where other people aren’t there to look in a public setting,” Phillips’ attorney Mark Bullman said. “You can’t be moving people’s clothing and opening them, particularly in situations where there’s not been a custodial arrest.”

Internal records obtained by Channel 2 revealed that a police captain had already reported a “unit-wide” issue regarding searches six months prior. Following the discovery of Phillips encounter, several others came forward as well, revealing the same invasive searches during minor traffic stops.

Another passenger, Ben Kassars, was subjected to a similar search after his roommate was pulled over for allegedly following a vehicle to closely. Claiming the men had drugs and threatening them with jail if they refused, officers went inside Kassars’ pants as he leaned on the back of his vehicle.

“I was humiliated… They took my belt off, unzipped my pants,” Kassars said. “They looked in my pants on the front, the side, the back. It was terrible. I felt like a girl. I felt defenseless. I felt like there was nothing I could do about it.”

No drugs were discovered on either men.

The report also detailed truck driver Camishi Jones, who was pulled over by a Cobb County officer after reportedly driving in the left lane on Interstate 75. Taken out of her vehicle for an alleged weapons search, Camishi experienced a TSA-style pat down from the male officer.

“He was all touching my breast, up in my vagina area… He actually stuck his hand up in between my buttocks,” Jones said. “I felt that I was being molested with his hands.”

No weapons were discovered on Jones.

Another man, Alphonzo Eleby, was approached by DeKalb county police while talking to a friend at a local gas station as he waited for his tank to fill. Having nothing to hide, Eleby consented to an officer’s search request like the others, assuming a normal pat down would take place.

“He went inside my underwear and searched my genital area,” Eleby said. ”It’s just embarrassing. I’ve got everybody seeing me exposed.”

Despite having no drugs, officers claimed Eleby threw “something” to the ground, charging him with possession of marijuana. After the gas station’s surveillance video of the altercation was released, it was revealed that Eleby never threw anything at all, with the officer instead appearing to throw something.

Charges were quickly dropped.

The investigation found more than half a dozen similar encounters with departments all across the state, leading many to wonder if a state wide policy has been quietly implemented by police. Incredibly, similar incidents have been reported all across the country as well in recent years.

Perverted Cops

In December 2012, two Texas women in yet another minor traffic stop were forced to submit to roadside body cavity searches. Claiming to smell marijuana, an officer searched the vagina and anus of both women with the same pair of latex gloves.

No marijuana was found by officers.

Just last November, a Southern New Mexico man, pulled over for allegedly failing to make a complete stop, was forced to undergo two illegal anal searches, three enemas and a colonoscopy after police claimed he was “clenching his buttocks” and concealing drugs.

The illegal search failed to produce any drugs.

Unfortunately, the current political climate seems to favor such behavior, as officers continually escape punishment. Meanwhile, police who publicly pledge to uphold the bill of rights are harassed by the federal government and placed on administrative leave.

See Also:

• Roadside violation: Drivers, passengers say police searched inside underpants (Video available)
• Police Sexual Crimes

GA - Entrapment defense is seldom successful

Entrapment?

Original Article

01/26/2014

By Emma Witman

Burden of proof remains on suspects who claim enticement by law officers

Undercover law enforcement officers from local and federal Northeast Georgia agencies recently have netted arrests by posing as poachers, drug dealers, militia members and 15-year-old girls.

Such investigative tactics often rankle the targets, who claim a pure mind was pushed to criminality by an officer, alluding to the legal concept of “entrapment.”

But that’s a legal defense far more difficult to prove than perhaps it’s often construed, legal experts said.

“The government can stick any amount of meat in front of your nose and even have you open your mouth, but you’re the one who chooses to bite,” Circuit Defender Brad Morris said.

Georgia criminal code says that a person is not guilty of a crime if entrapped. Entrapment occurs when the idea and intent of committing a crime originated with a government officer, employee or agent who has additionally by “undue persuasion, incitement, or deceitful means, induced the accused to commit the act which the accused would not have committed except for the conduct of such officer.”

In decades of practice, Morris said he has never seen an effective entrapment defense.

“Entrapment technically is a defense. It just hardly ever works,” he said.

In federal court, a defendant can deny committing a crime and simultaneously argue he was entrapped into committing a crime, Assistant U.S. Attorney William McKinnon said. The burden is on the defendant to provide such evidence.
- We thought the intent of the "justice" system was for the legal system to prove the person committed a crime, not the other way around?

“If the defendant is unable to make that showing in the trial, then the defendant is not entitled to an entrapment instruction with the jury,” McKinnon said. “The trial judge decides whether there’s a minimum amount to even raise it with the jury.”

An entrapment instruction was requested in the trial of two Toccoa men convicted Jan. 17 on domestic terrorism charges, McKinnon said. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story did not find sufficient evidence that an undercover agent had persuaded the men to conspire to make Ricin with castor beans.

Yet Georgia code doesn’t allow defendants to both deny their conduct and assert entrapment, or essentially the “I didn’t do it, and if I did, I was entrapped” defense.

Russell Gabriel, a law professor at the University of Georgia, said entrapment is somewhat analogous to self-defense in that sense.

“They are both what are called affirmative defenses,” Gabriel said. “You have to admit the deed, but this is a legal excuse for having done it, and those are jury questions.”

Read the rest of the article

GA - New state law gives ex offenders hope for landing a job

Original Article

This is excellent, but does it also include ex-sex offenders? If the video at the end of this article doesn't play, click the link above, which has more than one video available.

01/23/2014

By Devin Knight

ALBANY (WALB) - A new state law is a beacon of hope for job seekers with a criminal history.

Albany Second Chance hosted workshops for ex-offenders Monday at Albany Technical College and Albany State University. Speakers from the Georgia Justice Project said state is the second worst in the nation for barriers that keep ex-offenders from finding jobs, but they hope the Record Restriction Law will help.

Many of the hundreds of people crammed together in the Albany Tech Kirkland Conference Center were seeking a new beginning.

"Who doesn't wish they could go back and make it right, you know? But it is what it is," said Frankie Scott, Albany Resident. He, like many others at the Cleaning Up Your Criminal Record workshop, has a criminal history.

"I'm not going back. I got a wife and six kids. So...you know, it keeps my head up but it gets hard," he said.

He was convicted of two felonies more than a decade ago; one for cocaine possession and another for forgery. "You get rehabilitated, but you're still persecuted."

Off probation since 2010, Scott hasn't found a job in over three years because of his crimes.

"We know every year about 400 people return to Dougherty County from prison from federal and states. And when they return, they face several issues. And employment is one of them," said Dr. Charles Ochie, Albany Second Chance Founder & CEO.

Those with misdemeanor charges face similar challenges.

"I have no luck whatsoever. Nobody calls back. Just no luck," said Kasheem Dawson, Albany Resident. Dawson moved to Albany 6 months ago from the Virgin Islands, and hasn't been able to find work.

But organizers say Georgia's Record Restriction Act implemented last July could help offenders. "If they come back six months without a job, most of them will go back to prison again, 'cause an idle man is a devil's workshop," said Dr. Oachie.

People with less serious convictions can file an application with the District Attorney to prevent employers from seeing past charges.

"One of the key things that one of the individuals was talking about was banning the box. That little box when you check off offender that plays a big role here in the city of Albany, as well as the state of Georgia," said Vincent Alston, Workforce 44 Case Manager.

He said employers often won't follow up with applicants who check the box, or are found to have a criminal past. And removing that option, he said, could allow employers to see the potential of each applicant. "But look at what they're doing now. Look at the credentials they obtained. Look at the opportunity and the skills and the experience they can offer your company."

Scott and others with felonies can't apply and face a tough road to care for their children. "So as long as I keep them...keep involving myself in their life, they'll turn out better than I did, and that's my goal," he said.

But steady work, some say, is the final phase of rehabilitation.

During the workshop, a speaker with the Criminal Justice Project said 3.7 Million Georgians have criminal histories. They also said 1 in 13 individuals are under correctional control in Georgia, compared with the national average of 1 in 33.

Albany Second Chance says community support will play a major role in rehabilitating offenders.

See Also:

• Felon arrest records restrictions to public view

GA - Two Georgia students face charges in alleged sex act at cafeteria

Original Article

10/26/2013

By Nick Valencia

Two teenage high school students in Georgia face misdemeanor public indecency charges after a sex act allegedly was performed during lunch in the school cafeteria, a school official told CNN.
- And if the roles were reversed it would be a felony for the male.

The alleged incident occurred October 10 at Etowah High School in Woodstock, nearly 35 miles north of Atlanta.

"A female student allegedly made a sexual offer to a male classmate during lunch," Barbara Jacoby, a spokeswoman for the high school told CNN in a statement Wednesday. "The male classmate later told administrators that he thought this offer was a joke, but when the female student began to act upon it, the male student said he stopped her," Jacoby said.

The incident was recorded on the cell phone of at least two students, according to Jacoby, who said there is no evidence to suggest the video was shared or viewed by other students.

CNN spoke to an unidentified student at the school who said the video was shared and viewed beyond the group involved.

At least seven boys and one girl were involved, with one of the boys "daring" the girl to perform the act, the student said.

But Jacoby said the students who recorded the incident on Wednesday reiterated to authorities that they deleted the video "after realizing they might face charges for possessing it and did not distribute it."

She also told CNN that talk of distribution of the video was rumor.

School officials who were present in the cafeteria at the time of the alleged incident became aware that something had happened after students began talking among each other about what happened, the student told CNN.

Jacoby said students sitting at a cafeteria table "blocked other students and staff from witnessing what occurred."

"[School officials are in the cafeteria] but they usually just stand in the middle to make sure nobody leaves the cafeteria, but I guess they don't really monitor," one Etowah High School student told CNN affiliate WSB-TV.

"Appropriate school disciplinary action will occur for all students; the details of that action cannot be disclosed due to student privacy laws," Jacoby said.
- But let one of those students be on the sex offender registry and all the "privacy" rules go out the window!

GA - Cobb man wrongfully kept on sex offender registry and sent to prison for 14 months

Original Article

09/25/2012

COBB COUNTY - A Cobb County man said he's not bitter after spending more than a year in jail on a sex-offender registry violation when he wasn't even supposed to be on the registry.
- He should be, in our opinion.

[name withheld] said he's been homeless at times during the ordeal, sometimes living in his van.

His lawyer says it's frightening he wound up with a home in the jail, though key people in the system have now stepped up to make it right.

"You know how the movie — 'Waiting to Exhale.' Finally able to exhale and just say, 'Wow. Thank you God, it's finally over,'" [name withheld] said.

His new lawyer said [name withheld] was not supposed to be on the sex offender registry when he was arrested for violating the sex offender registry law in 2008.

But that fact didn't register with the criminal justice system until this year and he did 14 months in jail as a result.

"What gave you the strength to get through all this?" Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne asked [name withheld].

"Knowing that I was innocent. Knowing I was innocent and trusting in God," [name withheld] said.

"He should never have spent a single day in jail," attorney Ashleigh Merchant said.

Merchant said [name withheld] had a 1994 misdemeanor in another state that required he register until 2004. But an officer mistakenly told him he had to remain on the registry beyond that.
- He should have hired a lawyer when the officer told him that.  Just because an officer says you must be on the registry, doesn't mean it's true.

"It's absolutely terrifying the system doesn't catch this until so far down the line," Merchant said.

Merchant said though [name withheld] had a letter from the state where he got the misdemeanor, the jury never heard he didn't need to be on the registry and he was convicted of breaking the registry law.

"Seem like everything just broke inside of me. Because I never thought that I would be found guilty with all of the evidence," [name withheld] said.

Merchant said when she got on the case after [name withheld] was convicted, she brought the issue to Cobb County Senior Assistant D.A. Anna Cross, who quickly grasped what had happened, spoke to the D.A. and agreed to void the conviction.

"It's not often that we get to undo a wrong like that, and to be able to tell your client that this nightmare's over finally is a really good feeling," Merchant said.
- And this speaks volumes!  How many other people are still in jail/prison for something someone said that wasn't true?

Merchant said the original misdemeanor involved an inappropriate-touching allegation.

She said the retired GBI in-house counsel, Mark Jackson, who for years played a key role with the sex offender registry, played a key role as an expert in establishing that [name withheld] had been done wrong.

Merchant said Jackson deserves credit too.

GA - Do you have kids who are underage and having sex? Well, you could wind up wearing the sex offender label!

Original Article

09/25/2012

Quitman County – [name withheld], 40, and [name withheld], 34, were indicted yesterday in Quitman County and charged with Child Molestation; and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor.

The charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Sylvester Field Office at the request of the Quitman County Sheriff's Office.

[name withheld] and [name withheld] failed to act responsibly when both had knowledge of juveniles engaging in sexual activity.

Both defendants were booked into the Quitman County Jail.

GA - Ex-deputy (Christopher Thomas Davis) admits to taking sexual photos of 6-year-old girl left in his care

Original Article

09/20/2012

By Kimathi Lewis

Being in the custody of a sheriff’s deputy should have been the safest place for a 6-year-old child.

But Mr. Christopher Thomas Davis abused the girl's trust by taking sexually explicit photographs of her to add to his vast collection of images of children being sexually abused.

And on Tuesday, the former White County Sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty to producing child pornography that involved the 6-year-old, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A judge will decide the penalty for his crime on Nov. 27, prosecutors said.

“This defendant committed the ultimate act of betrayal,” U.S. Attorney Mrs. Sally Quillian Yates said.

“He violated the trust of the 6-year old victim, who he was charged with protecting, and betrayed the trust of his community by committing this heinous act while employed as sworn law enforcement officer.”

Investigators said between May 18 and June 25, 2009, Mr. Davis took photographs of a 6-year-old girl in his custody while she engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The photographs were taken inside Mr. Davis's Dahlonega home, according to court records.

On Aug. 25, 2011, federal agents executed a search warrant at the deputy’s home where they found several hundred additional images of child pornography on an external hard drive and on a laptop computer, prosecutors said.

Mr. Davis, 32, faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and the rest of his life on supervised release.

Also, he will be required to register as a sex offender once he’s released from prison, prosecutors said.

Berrien County jailer arrested - Nichols is charged with felony sexual assault

View the article here | Courtesy of BadCopNews

04/24/2007

NASHVILLE - The Georgia Bureau of Investigations received warrants Monday on a Berrien County Jail employee after an investigation into allegations of improper conduct began Saturday, according to Sheriff Jerry Brogden.

The incident was reported to the Sheriff’s Office Saturday at approximately 2:30 p.m. The GBI was immediately notified and called in to investigate the incident, which reportedly took place in the jail Feb. 14 and involved a male jailer and a female inmate.

Saturday evening, Jonathan Nichols, 20, of Ray City, was arrested and held at an undisclosed facility outside of Berrien County. Warrants issued Monday initially charged Nichols with two counts of felony sexual assault and one felony count of false imprisonment, according to Brogden.

Nichols, who is a certified jailer, had reportedly worked at the jail for 12 months before the incident was brought to the Sheriff’s attention.

“I’ve never had anything happen like this in 23 years,” Brogden said. “I am very saddened by this. We just do what we have to do, and we have followed all the procedures we were supposed to. We can’t go back and change what happened.”

Berrien County Jail employs both male and female jailers on each shift, and male jailers are not supposed to have contact with female inmates, according to Brogden.

The incident is still under investigation by the GBI, according to Brogden.

Sheriff sued for demanding that sex offender move

View the article here

04/24/2007

Habersham County Sheriff DeRay Fincher will be in court today, April 24, to face a challenge from a convicted sex offender he ordered to move.

Today's hearing is based on documents recorded April 12 in Habersham County Superior Court by attorney Bill Oliver on behalf of offender James E. Craig. It is scheduled to be heard by Chief Judge Ernest H. "Bucky" Woods III.

In enforcing Georgia law 42-1-15(a), which prohibits a convicted sex offender from living within 1,000 feet of a daycare facility, Fincher's office found by GPS that Craig, 42, lives too close to Little Blessings Academy, a nearby daycare facility.

On April 11, Woods issued a temporary order stating that Fincher is temporarily enjoined from proceeding against Craig in enforcement of provisions of the law that restricts him from living within 1,000 feet of a daycare facility.

"The court finds that [Craig] raises legitimate questions regarding the applicability of the statute," the order states. "Therefore, the status quo should be maintained until the issues can be heard or until there is an applicable ruling by Federal Judge Clarence Cooper of the Northern District of Georgia, before whom this court understands there to be a related matter."

"I'm enforcing the law as it applies," Fincher said Monday. "He's less than 500 feet from the daycare center and the law says he has to be at least 1,000. It's not even close. He's more than 500 feet off."

But Oliver asserts that sex offender registration laws did not exist in Georgia at the time Craig was sentenced and that Craig's "conviction" under a general court martial is not such a conviction as defined under the state law relating to sex offenders.

In court martial proceedings at Fort Richardson, Alaska, in 1998, Craig was found guilty of two counts of committing indecent acts upon a female under the age on 16; of committing an indecent act upon a male under the age of 16; and obstruction of justice on or between Aug. 8, 1996, and Sept. 15, 1996, court documents contained in the suit against Fincher show.

Craig was confined for eight years, and was released from the service with a dishonorable discharge, the document states.

Bill that trapped teen is misused

View the article here

This article is not from me, which it looks like it is, but is not.

04/23/2007

In the mid-1990s, as a then-state representative, I introduced a bill designed to increase punishment for the most horrendous of acts against children. It was entitled The Child Protection Act of 1995.

Despite being in the Republican minority, I was close friends with the then-governor, speaker and lieutenant governor, all of whom were Democrats. My bill sailed out of the House and reached the state Senate.

In the Senate the bill hit a snag. The chairperson of the committee to which the bill was assigned wanted a bill to raise Georgia's age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. Although I am not assigning blame, the bill became victim of the ultimate legislative "Catch 22," in which one bill couldn't pass without the other.

When the bill came to the House floor for final approval, many bright minds such as then-state Rep. Roy Barnes and former Speaker Tom Murphy expressed concerns that young people, much like in the current case of Genarlow Wison, might be sentenced to the harsh 10-year prison term originally intended for blatant and extreme cruelty and abuse of children. Ultimately, most members came to believe that the language was vague enough to give leeway and that no prosecutor would ever so abuse the statute and its true legislative intent.

Years after I left the legislature, I learned certain prosecutors were using the bill as a "catchall" to win cases in which an older teen had consensual sex with an underaged teen. The legislature addressed that problem a few years ago, but the bill was not retroactive for cases like Wilson's.

In Wilson's case, the jury determined he was not guilty of rape. Instead, the underage sex combined with the involvement of oral sex triggered the more stringent portion of the legislation. Sadly, legislators advocating that no relief be given to Wilson and others showed their colleagues an uncensored version of a tape Wilson and his friends made of the "party" at which the sexual encounter occurred. Distasteful and sickening? I would imagine so for those who watched. Irrelevant? Yes. Wilson was cleared of rape by the jury.

Ironically, former Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard, who defeated me in the 1990 general election, joined me in an effort to convince legislators that it was not our intent to send young people to jail for 10 years.

We both feared that many of those prosecuted and convicted under the law often come from disadvantaged or minority homes where the family unit and its guidance is sometimes not available to young men, much less the resources of a strong legal defense.

Apparently there remains some opportunity to review Wilson's case through the judicial process. I want to make it clear that this column is not designed to place unfair pressure on officials who might be involved. I trust they will do what is right in the end.

But for years now, I have tried every way in the world to point out that the ultimate determining factor in applying legislation is the legislative intent. And the Wilson case result was not our intent.

Former state Rep. Matt Towery of Atlanta is a syndicated columnist and CEO of InsiderAdvantage, a political information and polling firm.

Fairness 2007 Legislative Summary (04/23/2007)

View the article here

Fairness for Prisoners’ Families

2007 Georgia General Assembly

Legislative Summary - April 23, 2007

The 2007 Georgia General Assembly came to a close on Friday night. The Governor is expected to announce details this week of a Special Session to address the budget for the last two months of 2007.

Fairness for Prisoners’ Families and the Southern Center for Human Rights owe a debt of gratitude to our friends and colleagues at the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Georgia Innocence Project. To quote Mother Jones, “We do not want to find fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each other: ‘We must be together; our masters are joined together and we must do the same thing.’"

Thanks to all the members of Fairness and the readers of this bulletin who took action this session. Thank you for your solidarity!

Two victories this year addressed wrongful convictions. House Resolution 352 creates the House Study Committee on Eyewitness Identification Procedures. HR 352 was introduced by Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D-Dekalb) to allow for a process for the legislature to thoroughly explore Georgia's procedures for eyewitness identification. This comes in the wake of Willie O. "Pete" Williams' exoneration in January after more than 21 years in prison on a wrongful rape conviction has raised the issue of eyewitness error for the second year. All six of the men whose convictions have been thrown out by DNA evidence in Georgia were prosecuted based on eyewitness testimony. Additionally, House Resolution 102 gives $1.2 million compensation after being wrongfully incarcerated for 25 years to Robert Clark, exonerated by DNA evidence in 2005.

Sometimes the victories of a legislative session can be better measured by looking at the bad laws that did not pass. Below are some of these bad bills that we were able to stop this year:

HB 185 would have allowed death penalty verdicts to be handed down with only 9 of the 12 jury members in agreement. There was tremendous opposition to this legislation and compelling testimony presented in committee from attorneys (including former prosecutors) , faith-based organizations, and Georgia citizens. This bill was ultimately struck down unanimously by the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the last week of the session.

SB 129 would have allowed for the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) to charge people in prison co-payments for medication. However, we know that no one in Georgia prisons can earn money; so ultimately, SB 129 was ultimately an additional tax on the families who have a loved one in prison. Members of Fairness testified against this measure in a Senate committee and rather than passing the bill, the committee placed the bill in a subcommittee (that we’re happy to say never met) to be studied further.

HB 527 would have allowed for private probation companies to supervise people convicted on nonviolent felonies and charge them a minimum $50 monthly supervision fee. Currently, private probation companies supervise misdemeanors, charge “supervision” fees of around $30 per month that most people cannot afford, offer no actual supervision, and charge extra if the person is required to attend drug treatment or other counseling. We joined Judges, Sheriffs, and the GDC in opposition to this measure and succeeded in stopping the bill from expanding private probation.

SB 1 would have made it illegal for people on the sex offender registry to take photographs of minors. It allowed for no exceptions for parents on the registry taking pictures of their own children nor did it excuse unintentional photographing of children in public places. As this legislation made its way through the legislature, our allies succeeded in amending the language to allow for pictures to be taken if the child’s parent consents. Ultimately, the House did not take action on this bill.

Here is the list of bills that were still pending as the session came to an end along with their current status:

Corrections Bills

• HB 313: Moves the Prison Industry Enhancement (PIE) Program under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Correctional Industries Administration. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 34: Prohibits a person in prison for a sex offense from possessing a photograph of the victim of the offense for which he or she is serving time. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
  

Sex Offense Bills

• HB 314: Requires that people convicted of certain sex offenses who receive a sentence of probation to provide DNA samples. Language from SB 1 and SB 249 was removed on the Senate floor. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 1: Prohibits people on the sex offender registry to take pictures of children. It does allow parents to consent to someone on the registry (including themselves) taking photos of their children. It also guards against the taking of pictures of children who might accidentally wander into a scene. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
• SB 54: Re-writes the incest statute to be gender neutral. Passed as included in HB 314.
• SB 249: Sheriff’s Association Legislation that clarifies and changes some registration requirements. Also includes a provision to allow for elderly and disabled people to petition the court to be exempt from residency restrictions. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
  

Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, and Death Penalty Bills

• HB 185: Allows a judge to impose a death sentence on a defendant even if two jurors vote against it. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
• HB 197: Abolishes Georgia’s Sentence Review Panel. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature. Now includes language from SB 97.
• HR 352: Creates the House Study Committee on Eyewitness Identification Procedures. Adopted by the House
• SB 97: Requires lawyers to state with specificity their objections to the jury charges prior to deliberations, or waive them. Passed as part of HB 197.
• SB 145: Allows for prosecutors to seek life without parole sentences for murder without having to seek the death penalty. Did not pass in 2007 General Assembly but can still be considered in 2008 session.
  

Indigent Defense

• HB 586: Limits the amount of money that the state must pay for capital defense; the county must pay the balance. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
• SB 139: Transfers the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council from the judicial branch to the executive branch. Passed both Houses and now awaits Governor's signature.
  

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

With hope and solidarity,

Sara

Sara J. Totonchi
Public Policy Director
Southern Center for Human Rights
83 Poplar Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404/688-1202 voice
404/688-9440 fax
stotonchi@schr.org

Sex offender on block a real estate deal breaker?

View the article here

After almost 10 months of searching, we thought we finally found the perfect house. It had a basement and a playroom, a nice backyard and the owners had done a great job decorating and caring for the home. The only problems were our cat allergies and some outdated carpeting in the basement. After figuring out how we could de-cat the house and deciding to worry about the carpet later, we made an offer. The owners stuck to their guns on price, and rejected our first two offers. We were taking the weekend off from negotiating, but we felt certain we would reach a deal on Monday.

I had been meaning to check Gwinnett County’s sex offender database, but hadn’t done so yet. It’s a well established, very nice neighborhood. In my mind checking the list was merely a formality.

I finally looked that weekend. Not only did I find a sex offender in the neighborhood, I found one a few houses down from our dream house.

The man’s offense was listed as indecent exposure.

My husband’s knee-jerk reaction was, “Boy, that should bring the price down.”

A registered sex offender on the block is one heck of a negotiating tool, but is it really worth the risk?

My husband didn’t think we should stop pursuing the house. I felt like we should, but I was willing to investigate to get details on the crime.

If the registry had said child molestation, rape or sexual assault, it wouldn’t have even been a question. But what exactly does indecent exposure mean?

“Maybe it was just a guy who got arrested for peeing outside,” suggested my Dad.

My girlfriends thought we would be stupid to move into a house with a known sex offender on the block no matter what the charge. One asked, “What would you tell the children ‘Don’t talk to our neighbor. He’s done bad things.’” Would we explain to the kids what a sex crime is?

The next day, I called the Gwinnett County sheriff’s office and spoke with the officer in charge of the sex offender registry. She had more information about the case and knew the man personally. She checks in with all the sex offenders from the county quarterly and they have to re-register each year on their birthdays. She suggested I call the agency in the town where the crime was committed.

I called that county’s sex offender department. This officer told me my would-be neighbor was sentenced to several years in prison for the crime (She couldn’t tell from the files if he served the full amount of his sentence). She said she couldn’t release all the information to me, but she suggested I contact two other counties about possible earlier incidents involving the same man.

By that point my mind was made up. One conviction and two other possible incidents mean I don’t buy that house. My husband agreed.

Did we make the right decision, or did we overreact?

Any neighbor, any time could be a sex offender just not one that’s been caught.

Three of the officers I spoke with made the point that at least this way you knew who to watch out for. I’m not sure that makes me feel any better.

As upsetting as it is looking at the photos of all te sex offenders and reading about their crimes, the registry is a helpful tool. I have already mapped the other offenders in the area we are considering moving to, so we won’t get caught by surprise again.