Who Is a “Party to a Crime” in Georgia?

Many criminal acts involve more than one person. As far as the law is concerned in Georgia, all such participants are equally guilty of such crimes. Indeed, people who may not have taken direct part in the underlying illegal act may still be considered a “party to a crime.”

Under Georgia law, every person who is “concerned in the commission of a crime is a party” and may be charged as such. A party to a crime includes anyone who:

• directly commits the crime;
• intentionally causes someone else to commit the crime such that the other person cannot be found legally responsible for the crime;
• intentionally aid or abets the commission of the crime; or
• intentionally advises, encourages, hires, counsels, or procures someone else to commit the crime.

Circumstantial Case Enough to Convict Georgia Man of Murder

The Georgia Supreme Court recently addressed a case, Nunnally v. State, where the defendant challenged a jury instruction on Georgia’s “party to a crime” rule. This case involved the shooting death of a woman in 2018. The victim left her boyfriend’s house one evening and was found early the next day in a nearby park, dead from a gunshot wound.

A subsequent police investigation tied the defendant to the victim’s death primarily through a text message he allegedly sent, telling the victim to meet him at the park, ostensibly so she could purchase marijuana from him. There was also circumstantial evidence suggesting the defendant was in a sexual relationship with the victim, and that he left his mother’s residence on the night of the victim’s death carrying a gun.

While circumstantial, the evidence was enough for a jury to convict the defendant of malice murder and several other criminal charges arising from the victim’s death, for which the defendant received a life sentence. On appeal, one of the defendant’s challenges related to the trial judge instructing the jury on Georgia’s “party to a crime” rule. The defendant argued this was inappropriate, especially as the prosecution never even argued this theory to the jury.

But as the Georgia Supreme Court explained in its opinion rejecting the defendant’s appeal, the jury instruction is still permissible when there is “slight evidence” to support the theory. In this case, there was at least “slight evidence” from which the jury could have concluded that the defendant “was involved in the events leading up to and including Mitchell’s murder, and thus, was a party to the crimes.”

Contact Hawkins Spizman Trial Lawyers Today

Any association with a criminal act, no matter how insignificant it might seem, can lead to you being charged as a party to that crime. An experienced Atlanta gun crime lawyer can advise you on how to defend yourself against such allegations. Contact Hawkins Spizman Trial Lawyers today. We serve clients throughout Georgia including Atlanta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Cobb County, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, Johns Creek and Sandy Springs.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7588767304236988132