Ollie Antonio Murphyv.The State
Ollie Antonio Murphy, who was serving a sentence with twenty-four years on probation, appealed an order revoking his probation. The State alleged several violations, including new criminal offenses in Douglas County. At the revocation hearing, the trial court found that Murphy committed the new offenses and referred to additional violations for which the State had not presented evidence. The Court of Appeals of Georgia affirmed the finding concerning the Douglas County offenses, applying the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard governing probation revocation and recognizing the trial court’s role as factfinder. But the appellate court vacated the revocation order because it indicated that the penalty rested in part on unsupported violations. The court remanded with direction that the trial court exercise its discretion based only on Murphy’s commission of the proven Douglas County offenses. Murphy’s separate challenge to the absence of specific findings was outside the scope of the discretionary review granted and therefore was not considered.
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