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Greenv.The State

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
Docket No.S19A0644
DecidedNovember 14, 2019
Reporter307 Ga. 171
JudgesSupreme Court of Georgia
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureEvidenceExpert TestimonyJury InstructionsReversal
Case Summary

Dewey Calhoun Green was convicted of malice murder and aggravated assault after his truck struck and killed Janice Pitts and injured members of her family. The State’s witnesses described Green’s truck moving forward and backward around Pitts, while several witnesses said he appeared dazed or unresponsive. Green sought to introduce testimony from an accident-reconstruction expert who would have offered an alternative explanation for the vehicle marks and path, including the possibility that a medical event left the truck uncontrolled. The trial court excluded the expert’s entire testimony because Green had not provided the required report. The Georgia Supreme Court reversed. It held that the State had not shown the statutory disclosure rule applied to all of the excluded testimony and, in any event, had not established the prejudice and bad faith required for the severe sanction of excluding a defense witness. The testimony went to the critical question whether Green acted consciously and voluntarily, so the error was not harmless. The convictions were reversed.

Opinion

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Green V. The State — The Atlanta Gleaner