Georgia Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Nichols' criminal defense attorneys are trying to recuse their second judge from presiding over the Brian Nichols trial. The lawyers' recusal motion is based on comments Judge Bodiford made at the time of the courthouse shooting. He was reported to say that the crime was a "brutal murder," and that the death of "his friend" hit close to home. The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.

I can't imaging anyone would argue that this crime was not a brutal murder (regardless of who committed it). And it is very different to say you are a friend of the victim than to prejudge the guilt of the person on trial. (That was the reason the last judge had to step aside.) Georgia law recognizes this difference, and does not require a judge to step down just because he was a friend of the victim.

Last week, I was asked to comment on this development by WABE, Atlanta's National Public Radio affiliate. I said what most other Atlanta criminal lawyers would say - there is no chance that Judge Bodiford will recuse himself from this case. He knew about his relationship with Judge Barnes well before he took this assignment, and he almost certainly consulted with the judge that appointed him about any conflicts.

Instead of simply denying the motion and requiring the lawyers to try to appeal that ruling, Judge Bodiford asked another judge to step in and consider the recusal request. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Judge Dan Coursey, Jr. of Dekalb County was named today as the judge who will consider the recusal motion.

Despite these delays, Judge Bodiford hopes to keep the trial scheduled for July. We'll see.

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Posted In: Georgia Criminal Law , Violent Crimes

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Just a few hours ago, a Houston County, Georgia jury convicted a husband and wife of felony murder for the death of a friend who had overdosed on drugs they provided her. The Macon Georgia newspaper has the story and the verdict returned this afternoon. The Atlanta Journal Constitution also covered the trial.

The case sounds like a scene straight out of Pulp Fiction, but it's true and it's tragic. The convicted couple were with their friend and gave her a syringe with a significant amount of Oxycontin. The friend injected herself with the drug and died shortly thereafter. Apparently, she had been drinking alcohol earlier (her BAC was .198), and the Oxycontin put her over the edge. No one was trying to kill her, but the couple panicked when the girl had a bad reaction. They left her on the front lawn to die.

The story is a tragic example of how the felony murder statute works in Georgia criminal cases. In Georgia, a person commits the offense of murder when, in the commission of a felony, he causes the death of another human. There is no need for malice or intent to kill. You don't have to pull the trigger to be convicted of murder in Georgia. And the penalty - life in prison - is the same.

In the Houston County case, the couple were convicted of felony murder because their friend died as a result of the drugs they gave her. Providing the drugs is a felony (unlawful distribution of a controlled substance), and their friend died as a result. The judge sentenced them both to life in prison. It's the same sentence they would have received if they had shot their friend in the head with a gun.

Our firm has handled several felony murder cases, and we have one pending now in Dekalb County, Georgia. In that case, our client is alleged to have been engaged in an armed robbery that caused the death of the person being robbed. The fact that our client was not the shooter doesn't matter. It wouldn't even matter if our client was just the getaway driver. Anyone involved in the commission of a felony that results in the death of another person is guilty of felony murder and faces life in prison if convicted.

Because the penalty is so severe, most criminal defense lawyers will try to negotiate a plea to a lesser charge if there is significant evidence that their client was involved in a crime that led to a murder. If their client was only a minor player in the underlying felony, a plea to a lesser offense can usually be obtained.

Perhaps this couple was offered such a plea and gambled on a trial. Sometimes that works, but as this Middle Georgia couple just learned, you usually get the max if you lose. It's a tragic end to a tragic case.

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Posted In: Georgia Criminal Law , Violent Crimes

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