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Christopher Allen Danielsv.The State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A17A2099
DecidedJanuary 2, 2018
JudgesCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureSentencingStatutory InterpretationVacaturRemandSex CrimesTales From the Crypt
Case Summary

Christopher Daniels pleaded guilty to ten counts of statutory rape and seven counts of child molestation. The trial court imposed concurrent fifteen-year terms of confinement on the child-molestation counts and concurrent fifteen-year probationary terms on the statutory-rape counts. Daniels later moved to vacate the sentence as void. The Court of Appeals held that a sentencing court may correct a void sentence at any time and that Georgia law required split sentences for the sexual offenses at issue. The child-molestation sentences omitted the required probationary component, while the probation-only sentences for two statutory-rape offenses were also unlawful because Daniels was at least 21 when he committed them. The court further noted that any departure from mandatory minimum terms required the statutory findings and written reasons that were absent here. It vacated the entire sentence and remanded for resentencing under the governing sexual-offense sentencing provisions.

Opinion

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Christopher Allen Daniels V. The State — The Atlanta Gleaner