The Atlanta Gleaner.

Legal News

Edited By George Washington

(Testing in progress)

George Washington Statue at Federal Hall

Matthew Anthony Newv.The State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
Docket No.A13A2391
DecidedMarch 27, 2014
Reporter327 Ga. App. 87, 755 S.E.2d 568
JudgesThird Division: Presiding Judge Andrews and Judges Dillard and Ray; Judge Dillard authored the majority opinion; Andrews concurred; Ray concurred specially
Tags
CriminalCriminal LawCriminal ProcedureEvidenceDigital EvidenceIneffective Assistance of CounselSearch and SeizureSentencingReversalRemand
Case Summary

The jury convicted Matthew Anthony New on 38 counts: 35 under Georgia’s law prohibiting sexual exploitation of children, two for child molestation, and one for enticing a child for indecent purposes. The case followed a police investigation and forensic examination of New’s computer, which uncovered child-pornography images. The Court of Appeals held the circumstantial evidence sufficient to support the 35 image-possession convictions, including evidence of New’s use of file-sharing software and his user activity, despite automatic creation of some cache files. It rejected his evidentiary challenge to testimony about adult pornography because the challenged exhibits were not admitted and the testimony rebutted his defense, and it rejected his ineffective-assistance claims. The court also held that New’s written and oral consent authorized forensic examination of the computer, so it did not reach his separate challenge to a search warrant. His sentence was void because the statute required a split sentence, including the applicable mandatory prison term and at least one year of probation, for each covered sexual-offense conviction; the existing sentence did not comply. The court affirmed the convictions, vacated the sentence, and remanded for resentencing under the statute; Judge Ray concurred specially about the practical sentencing problem created by the per-offense probation requirement.

Opinion

Loading published copy…

The Far Side