Articles Posted in Criminal Defense

A wedding day is one of the most exciting events that someone can experience. Unfortunately, a newlywed Georgia couple never made it to their honeymoon. A man is facing state criminal charges following an accident that took his wife’s life.

The couple was on their way to their destination following the wedding reception. Authorities indicate that the crash happened when the suspect was reportedly attempting to avoid striking a dog. This attempt caused the vehicle to go off the road, resulting in the suspect’s wife being thrown from the vehicle. However, when the suspect’s blood alcohol content level was tested, the results allegedly showed that he was at .114 percent.

Authorities placed the suspect under arrest after he turned himself in and charged him with vehicular homicide and reckless driving. He was also charged with driving while intoxicated and failure to stay in a lane. He has since been released from jail on a $25,000 bond.

From time to time, young people will make mistakes. Combining peer pressure with decision-making skills that aren’t fully developed can lead teens into very unfortunate circumstances that can result in very serious consequences and entry into the black hole that is the criminal justice system where criminal defense is a must at the earliest points.

In 1993, a young man found himself facing charges for a double murder. When the 16-year-old boy, who lived in a rough neighborhood and dropped out of school, was bragging to his cousin, he said that he’d committed a recent drive-by shooting. Soon, police cornered the teen and pressured him into a confession. The young man was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to prison.

Almost two decades later, light was finally shed on the young man’s case. Now a 36-year-old man, the murder suspect was released from prison based on the revelation that he was forced into a false confession.

Everyone makes mistakes. That’s just a fact of life. However, some mistakes have more serious consequences than others. One Georgia man is finding this out, as he faces the possibility of spending a year behind bars for an accident that injured his wife.  He needs a good criminal defense attorney.

A 37-year-old man and his wife visited a gas station to refuel their vehicle when an incident occurred. According to reports, the man had a cigarette lighter in hand and was playing with it while he was pumping case. All of a sudden, flames erupted and shot toward the man’s wife who was standing nearby. Surveillance footage shows that the man immediately tried to pull the gas nozzle out of his vehicle. Unfortunately, the woman suffered burn injuries as a result of the incident and the man is now needing a criminal defense attorney. 

In response to the incident, police have pursued criminal charges against the man for reckless conduct, which is a misdemeanor. If the man is convicted, he could spend up to a year in prison and be forced to pay a substantial fine. Reports do not indicate when the trial is expected to move forward.

When certain criminal defense cases hit news, all eyes are drawn to the defendant. It’s often the case that news reports can cast individuals as guilty even before they’ve gone on trial. Despite this perception, everyone who is accused of a crime is entitled to presumed innocence when a trial begins, no matter how much attention the case receives.

The Atlanta area has become consumed by allegations that a number of school district officials artificially boosted test scores in order to make it look like students were learning more. In total, 35 district staff members — including teachers and administrators — have been indicted on criminal charges stemming from the supposed scandal.

Not long ago, the first trial against one of the Atlanta school administrators came to a close. Authorities accused the woman of trying to influence one of the people who was set to testify regarding the larger cheating scandal. As a result, she faced corruption-related charges.

Criminal Defense – If you have had no prior convictions, the court at the state level can sentence you under the First Offender Act. Certain violent crimes, serious sex crime offenses and DUI charges are exempted from this Act and you cannot get First Offender treatment for those offenses.  

But, if you are sentenced as a first offender and you successfully complete ALL terms of your sentence, the court will discharge your case without conviction.  You can tell all employers that you have not been convicted of anything.  There are two pitfalls to point out here.  One – most employers do criminal background checks, and while you are on first offender probation, this case will show on your record. Second, if you don’t successfully complete the terms of your sentence, the court can revoke the balance of your probation and revoke your first offender status.  

A good thing that comes with a first offender conviction is that you can retain your right to vote, own or possess lawfully a firearm.  These are rights that you would ordinarily lose if you are convicted of a felony in the state of Georgia.

Our criminal defense attorneys at Conaway & Strickler, PC know how to help you avoid being arrested or convicted for Firearm Offenses.

The Second Amendment under the Bill of Rights under the United States Constitution states that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  Recent case law and legislation clearly indicate otherwise.  It is well settled that one cannot have a firearm in court houses, schools, airports and the like.  In District of Columbia v. Heller (554 US 570 (2008)), the court ruled that the Second Amendment is not unlimited, and is not a right to “keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose”.  The court also clarified that many longstanding prohibitions and restrictions on firearms pass constitutional muster.

Please see criminal defense attorney Meg Strickler on Fox news discussing the right to bear arms and the Second Amendment.  She discusses that the right to bear arms is not absolute.  The public housing authority in this situation has a legitimate right in maintaining a safe environment.  She goes on to discuss that if it was a private property owner, they would have even more rights in contracting in their leases special stipulations.  When one rents an apartment, one often negotiates whether to have pets, when to play loud music, how many roomates one can have, etc. It is important in private lease situations to read all stipulations so that one does not sign away the right to bear arms/possess a gun in their own home.

A Roswell, Ga doctor was charged with tax and health care fraud. Please see attached article: http://roswell.patch.com/articles/roswell-doctor-charged-with-health-care-and-tax-fraud 

Millions of American citizens are arrested by the police every year: detained, questioned, handcuffed, stuffed into the back of a police cruiser, and thrown in jail. Many of them never expected it to happen to them. These individuals are often shocked to find themselves fighting for their liberties, their reputations, and their futures in the clutches of The Beast – the impersonal, aggressive, bureaucratic, politically-charged, economically-motivated nightmare that is today’s criminal justice system. As America’s criminal justice system becomes ever larger and more powerful, it is time to ask ourselves: what should we be more afraid of? the criminals? or The Beast?

Popularized in a vast array of television shows – “Law and Order,” “CSI,” “Cold Case,” “COPS,” and “Nancy Grace,” to name a few – as white-knight police and prosecutors battling wily criminals with slick defense lawyers, the criminal justice system is widely misunderstood by the average American. The “good guy – bad guy” image is reinforced by politicians of every stripe vowing to be “tough on crime” and by special-interest groups promoting Zero Tolerance policies on the streets, in the schools, and in the workplaces. What most Americans fail to realize is that the effect of our law-and-order political philosophy has been the passage of many more criminal laws, broader definitions of what constitutes a crime, greater restrictions on civil liberties, and harsher punishments.

In the many years of defending individuals charged with crimes, Dan Conaway of Conaway & Strickler, PC has found that most of his clients have never been arrested before, or have had only minor previous infractions. Instead of hardened offenders who know how to “beat the system,” as they are portrayed on the television shows, many people questioned or arrested by the police are just ordinary individuals who have run afoul of the law. They are nearly always terrified, confused, and completely ignorant about what to do next. What’s more, because the ramifications of a conviction – even for a minor offense – have increased exponentially over the past two decades, a single misstep early on can lead to disastrous results.