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Georgia repeals citizen’s arrest law in response to Ahmaud Arbery killing

JURIST

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp Monday signed a bill that repeals an 1863 civil war-era statute , one year after Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot. He was shot while running through his neighborhood on the Georgia coast in February 2020 after the men claimed they thought he was a burglar.

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Double jeopardy clause bars Georgia from retrying man acquitted by reason of insanity

SCOTUSBlog

Georgia charged Damian McElrath with malice (that is, premeditated) murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. At the trial, the jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity of the most serious charge (malice murder), but guilty on the two lesser charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

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"Just About Any Felony": Court of Appeals of Georgia Finds Trial Judge Improperly Deemed Burglary a Crime of Dishonesty

EvidenceProf Blog

Similar to its federal counterpart, OCGA § 24-6-609(a) states the following: For the purpose of attacking the character for truthfulness of a witness: (1) Evidence that a witness other than an accused has been convicted of a crime shall be.

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North Carolina man sentenced for threatening House Speaker Pelosi after US Capitol riot

JURIST

The US District Court for the District of Columbia Tuesday sentenced a North Carolina man to 28 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge regarding a threat he made against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On January 7, he sent a text message to a relative in Georgia that included a threat directed towards Speaker Pelosi.

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Georgia man sentenced to death challenges state’s striking of Black jurors

SCOTUSBlog

This week, we highlight petitions that ask the court to consider, among other things, whether a Black man sentenced to death in Georgia after the state sought to strike all but one eligible Black juror can satisfy the heightened standard to challenge his conviction. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld that decision.

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Superior Court rules Arbery’s mental health records can’t be used at trial

JURIST

The Superior Court of Glynn County, Georgia ruled on Friday that Ahmaud Arbery’s mental health records could not be used as evidence in the trial against the three white men accused of killing the 25-year-old Black man. The defendants face charges of felony murder and false imprisonment. Arbery was unarmed.

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Georgia Makes Porch Piracy, Mail Theft a Felony

The Crime Report

A new law in Georgia is tackling the issues of porch piracy and mail theft by classifying certain degrees of the crimes as felonies, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

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