Ga. top court OKs death option for cop shooting
Lawyer Blogs
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that two men will be eligible for the death penalty if they are found guilty of killing a Bibb County sheriff's deputy even if they didn't know he was a law enforcement officer.
The state is seeking the death penalty against Antron Dawayne Fair and Damon Antwon Jolly for the 2006 killing of deputy Joseph Whitehead. In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court said the death penalty should not be barred.
Whitehead was a member of a team of officers attempting to serve a "no-knock" warrant on a house in Macon that was suspected of drug trafficking. He was killed moments after entering the home.
Fair and Jolly were charged with murder, and prosecutors cited the killing of a police officer as an aggravating circumstance.
It was the second time the case has been appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court in an attempt to block the state from seeking the death penalty. Trials have not been scheduled for either defendant.
Defense attorneys contended in the latest appeal that the statute that lists aggravating circumstances permitting the death penalty violates constitutional rights to equal protection. They said a person who kills an undercover officer without knowing it should not be treated the same as one who knowingly kills an officer.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.