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2018 Georgia Code 40-6-395 | Car Wreck Lawyer

TITLE 40 MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC

Section 6. Uniform Rules of the Road, 40-6-1 through 40-6-397.

ARTICLE 15 SERIOUS TRAFFIC OFFENSES

40-6-395. Fleeing or attempting to elude police officer; impersonating law enforcement officer.

  1. It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop. The signal given by the police officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.
    1. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a high and aggravated misdemeanor and:
      1. Upon conviction shall be fined not less than $500.00 nor more than $5,000.00, and the fine shall not be subject to suspension, stay, or probation, and imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than 12 months. Any period of such imprisonment in excess of ten days may, in the sole discretion of the judge, be suspended, stayed, or probated;
      2. Upon the second conviction within a ten-year period of time, as measured from the dates of previous arrests for which convictions were obtained to the date of the current arrest for which a conviction is obtained, shall be fined not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $5,000.00, and the fine shall not be subject to suspension, stay, or probation, and imprisoned for not less than 30 days nor more than 12 months. Any period of such imprisonment in excess of 30 days may, in the sole discretion of the judge, be suspended, stayed, or probated; and for purposes of this paragraph, previous pleas of nolo contendere accepted within such ten-year period shall constitute convictions; and
      3. Upon the third or subsequent conviction within a ten-year period of time, as measured from the dates of previous arrests for which convictions were obtained to the date of the current arrest for which a conviction is obtained, shall be fined not less than $2,500.00 nor more than $5,000.00, and the fine shall not be subject to suspension, stay, or probation, and imprisoned for not less than 90 days nor more than 12 months. Any period of such imprisonment in excess of 90 days may, in the sole discretion of the judge, be suspended, stayed, or probated; and for purposes of this paragraph, previous pleas of nolo contendere accepted within such ten-year period shall constitute convictions.
    2. For the purpose of imposing a sentence under this subsection, a plea of nolo contendere shall constitute a conviction.
    3. If the payment of the fine required under paragraph (1) of this subsection will impose an economic hardship on the defendant, the judge, at his or her sole discretion, may order the defendant to pay such fine in installments and such order may be enforced through a contempt proceeding or a revocation of any probation otherwise authorized by this subsection.
    4. Notwithstanding the limits set forth in any municipal charter, any municipal court of any municipality shall be authorized to impose the punishments provided for in this subsection upon a conviction of violating this subsection or upon conviction of violating any ordinance adopting the provisions of this subsection.
      1. Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section who, while fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer:
        1. Operates his or her vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit;
        2. Strikes or collides with another vehicle or a pedestrian;
        3. Flees in traffic conditions which place the general public at risk of receiving serious injuries;
        4. Commits a violation of paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-391; or
        5. Leaves the state

        shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of $5,000.00 or imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years or both.

      2. Following adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, the sentence shall not be suspended, probated, deferred, or withheld, and the charge shall not be reduced to a lesser offense, merged with any other offense, or served concurrently with any other offense.
  2. It shall be unlawful for a person:
    1. To impersonate a sheriff, deputy sheriff, state trooper, agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, police officer, or any other authorized law enforcement officer by using a motor vehicle or motorcycle designed, equipped, or marked so as to resemble a motor vehicle or motorcycle belonging to any federal, state, or local law enforcement agency; or
    2. Otherwise to impersonate any such law enforcement officer in order to direct, stop, or otherwise control traffic.

(Code 1933, § 68A-904, enacted by Ga. L. 1974, p. 633, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1483, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 836, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 758, § 19; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 40; Ga. L. 1990, p. 585, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 5; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 40; Ga. L. 1994, p. 831, § 3; Ga. L. 1995, p. 855, § 2; Ga. L. 2004, p. 450, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 256, § 2/HB 1231; Ga. L. 2012, p. 729, § 1/HB 827.)

Cross references.

- Impersonating public officer or employee generally, § 16-10-23.

Suspension of driver's license for conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude officer, § 40-5-54.

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2010, p. 256, § 5/HB 1231, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment by that Act shall apply to all offenses committed on or after July 1, 2010.

Ga. L. 2012, p. 729, § 2/HB 827, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment to this Code section shall apply to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2012.

Law reviews.

- For article, "Criminal Law," see 53 Mercer L. Rev. 209 (2001). For annual survey of criminal law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 153 (2004). For article, "Police Pursuits: A Comprehensive Look at the Broad Spectrum of Police Pursuit Liability and Law," see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 511 (2006).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- Statute was not unconstitutional for failing to include a provision for the exercise of self defense, given the statutory defense that a person's conduct was justified remained a defense to prosecution for any crime based on that conduct; moreover, the defendant was permitted to present justification evidence, and the trial court instructed the jury that justification was a defense and could be claimed when the person's conduct was justified for any reason under the law or in all other instances based on similar reason and justice. Harbuck v. State, 280 Ga. 775, 631 S.E.2d 351 (2006).

Offenses under subsections (a) or (b) of former Code 1933, § 68A-904 (see now O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395) were purely statutory and have no relation to the common law. State v. Black, 149 Ga. App. 389, 254 S.E.2d 506 (1979).

Subject matter jurisdiction.

- Inasmuch as it was established that a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 was alleged to have occurred in Douglas County, Georgia, the state court of Douglas County had subject-matter jurisdiction over the case; thus, the denial of the defendant's motion in arrest of judgment was not error. Harbuck v. State, 280 Ga. 775, 631 S.E.2d 351 (2006).

Counts merged.

- Because two counts charged the defendant with fleeing from an officer after having been given a proper signal to stop from the officer, the unit of prosecution under both counts was the same and the counts should have merged. Gibbs v. State, 340 Ga. App. 723, 798 S.E.2d 308 (2017).

Pleas and violations of double jeopardy.

- Subsequent prosecution of the defendant for robbery after the defendant pled guilty to fleeing to elude did not violate double jeopardy since the offenses involved wholly different elements and facts. Blackwell v. State, 230 Ga. App. 611, 496 S.E.2d 922 (1998).

Even assuming arguendo that the defendant's position that O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 set out two distinct offenses, wilful failure to stop and fleeing and eluding a police officer, the defendant was tried, first in a bench trial and again on remand after an appeal, on an accusation charging the defendant with fleeing and eluding an officer and was found guilty and sentenced both times for fleeing and eluding; hence, because the defendant was not tried on the offense of wilful failure to stop, the defendant's contention that double jeopardy considerations prohibited a jury trial on that charge was moot. Harbuck v. State, 280 Ga. 775, 631 S.E.2d 351 (2006).

Counts did not merge.

- Two counts of eluding an officer against a defendant, who was a passenger in a truck, did not factually merge as in the first count, the defendant eluded the officer by being in a truck that exceeded the posted speed limit by at least 30 mph while an officer was chasing the truck, when the officer clocked the vehicle as exceeding 100 miles per hour in a 55-miles-per-hour zone; the first count was separate and complete prior to the truck's driver running a red light and endangering the crossing vehicle in the driver's efforts to elude the police, which was the basis for the second count of eluding an officer. Michael v. State, 281 Ga. App. 289, 635 S.E.2d 790 (2006), overruled on other grounds by Gibbs v. State, 304 Ga. App. 723, 798 S.E.2d 308 (2017).

Although offenses related to the getaway car were part of the same criminal episode, the essential elements of armed robbery, theft by receiving, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and reckless driving were completely separate and distinct. As a result, the trial court did not err in failing to merge these offenses. Garibay v. State, 290 Ga. App. 385, 659 S.E.2d 775 (2008).

Trial court properly sentenced the defendant on five separate counts of attempting to elude a police officer because the evidence supported the jury's conclusion that the defendant willfully led police on a dangerous high speed chase after being given clear signals by five separate police vehicles to stop; it is the act of fleeing from an individual police vehicle or police officer after being given a proper visual or audible signal to stop from that individual police vehicle or officer, and not just the act of fleeing itself, that forms the proper "unit of prosecution" under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395. Smith v. State, 290 Ga. 768, 723 S.E.2d 915 (2012).

Merger with felony murder.

- Defendant's conviction for felony fleeing and attempting to elude was vacated as the offense served as the underlying felony for a felony murder conviction and merged with the conviction for felony murder. Ferguson v. State, 280 Ga. 893, 635 S.E.2d 144 (2006).

Identification of officer.

- No violation of subsection (a) of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 is shown unless evidence demonstrates that the officer allegedly eluded was in required uniform and that the officer's vehicle was appropriately marked. Phillips v. State, 162 Ga. App. 471, 291 S.E.2d 776 (1982).

Evidence that the law enforcement officer displayed a variety of objective indicia of the officer's lawful authority was sufficient to authorize the jury's determination that the defendant was unlawfully attempting to elude the officer's. Mooney v. State, 221 Ga. App. 420, 471 S.E.2d 904 (1996).

State's failure to present evidence of the officer's attire was harmless when the jury was considering whether an individual driving 131 mph in the dark, early in the morning hours was aware that the individual was being pursued by a peace officer. Ray v. State, 233 Ga. App. 162, 503 S.E.2d 391 (1998).

Applicability to uniformed officers on foot.

- When a defendant failed to stop after being given a signal to do so by a police officer on foot and in uniform, the defendant violated O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395, and therefore the evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's conviction for fleeing and attempting to elude; § 40-6-395 did not apply only when an officer was in a police vehicle and not on foot, as was the factual circumstances involving the defendant, because to read § 40-6-395 to mean only a police officer on foot would render the phrase "pursuing police vehicle" in the first sentence of § 40-6-395 meaningless, and a court was prohibited from interpreting a statute in this manner. Maxwell v. State, 282 Ga. 22, 644 S.E.2d 822 (2007).

One signal given by police enough.

- Intent of the legislature was to require only one form of recognizable signal, either visual or audible. Reynolds v. State, 209 Ga. App. 628, 434 S.E.2d 166 (1993).

Defendant's conviction for eluding the police was reversed as a fair risk could not have been excluded (due to the unexplained ambiguity appearing in the face of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 at the time of the offense) that the driver could have labored under a mistaken belief that merely because a second signal was not given the defendant was free wilfully to elude police pursuit without fear of criminal sanction. Reynolds v. State, 209 Ga. App. 628, 434 S.E.2d 166 (1993).

Applicability to passengers.

- Not only a driver can be found guilty of violating O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395; the evidence may show that the driver and the passenger acted in concert between themselves in an effort to effect an unlawful escape from the police. Bivins v. State, 166 Ga. App. 580, 305 S.E.2d 29 (1983).

When the defendant was only a passenger in a van during a high speed chase with police and was not the driver, and there was no evidence that the defendant did anything other than occupy the passenger seat while a codefendant drove the van, the trial court erred by denying the defendant's motion for a directed verdict on the charge of fleeing from police. Carter v. State, 249 Ga. App. 354, 548 S.E.2d 102 (2001).

Sufficiency of accusation.

- Amended accusation charging that the defendant "did wilfully fail to stop and did otherwise fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop in violation of this section" sufficiently apprised the defendant of the charges against the defendant. Reed v. State, 205 Ga. App. 209, 422 S.E.2d 15, cert. denied, No. S92C1446, 1992 Ga. LEXIS 865 (1992).

Grant of the defendant's special demurrer to counts which charged the defendant with fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer was proper because the offense charged could have been committed by the defendant's failure to respond to a visual signal of the officer either by hand or by emergency light and the accusation did not allege which type of visual signal was given. State v. Jones, 246 Ga. App. 482, 540 S.E.2d 622 (2000).

Charges that the defendant violated O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a) by willfully failing or refusing to bring the defendant's vehicle to a stop or otherwise fled or attempted to elude a pursuing police officer when given a visual or audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop, and that the defendant violated O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24(a) by knowingly and willfully obstructing or hindering the officer in the lawful discharge of the officer's duties by refusing to follow the officer's reasonable and lawful commands, were not mutually exclusive, as the crimes had different elements and neither guilty verdict legally or logically excluded the other. Golden v. State, 276 Ga. App. 538, 623 S.E.2d 727 (2005).

Trial court did not err in denying the defendant's motion in arrest of judgment as to the count of fleeing and attempting to elude police because the indictment charged that the defendant unlawfully willfully failed to bring a vehicle to a stop after having been given an audible and visual signal to bring the vehicle to a stop by an officer while fleeing in an attempt to escape arrest for theft by receiving and did flee in traffic conditions which placed the general public at risk of receiving serious injuries in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395. Dixson v. State, 313 Ga. App. 379, 721 S.E.2d 555 (2011).

Indictment charging the defendant with eluding police was not fatally defective because the indictment did not contain the term "pursuing"; the indictment provided sufficient notice of the charge against the defendant. Jackson v. State, 284 Ga. App. 619, 644 S.E.2d 491 (2007), cert. denied, No. S07C1169, 2007 Ga. LEXIS 521 (Ga. 2007).

Indictment charging the defendant with "fleeing or attempting to elude," alleging that the defendant unlawfully and willfully failed to bring the defendant's vehicle to a stop after a pursuing police officer gave a visual and audible signal, was sufficient to withstand a general demurrer. State v. Wilson, 318 Ga. App. 88, 732 S.E.2d 330 (2012).

Sufficient evidence of venue.

- Even though a chase involving the defendant might have ended in another county, because the offense of eluding the officers was complete at the moment the defendant refused to stop, despite the visual and audible signals requiring such, the defendant's act of continuing the chase into that second county did not destroy venue in the county where the chase began; moreover, after the defendant wrecked the vehicle involved in the chase in the second county, the evidence gathered at the scene was sufficient to support the inference that the open beer containers were in the vehicle when the defendant was observed driving the vehicle moments earlier in the county where the chase began. Mack v. State, 283 Ga. App. 172, 641 S.E.2d 194 (2007).

Indictment charging the defendant with felony fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer was defective as the indictment failed to list any predicate offense as required by O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(b)(5)(A); nowhere was the predicate offense mentioned of fleeing in traffic conditions such that the general public was placed at risk of serious injuries. Cochran v. State, 288 Ga. App. 538, 654 S.E.2d 458 (2007).

As there was evidence the defendant was speeding and eluding a police officer in Dawson County, venue was established there, even though the defendant was apprehended in Forsyth County. Segel v. State, 293 Ga. App. 506, 667 S.E.2d 670 (2008).

In a fleeing and eluding case under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395, the evidence was sufficient to establish venue as required by Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VI, Sec. II, Para. VI and O.C.G.A. § 17-2-2(a) based on evidence that the chase originated in the county and continued there, which included an eyewitness's testimony, dash cam footage, and a map. Payne v. State, 338 Ga. App. 677, 791 S.E.2d 451 (2016).

Insufficient evidence of venue.

- State failed to present evidence of venue necessary for a fleeing and eluding conviction as the testimony merely identified streets, but did not indicate the counties in which the chase or shooting took place. Grant v. State, 326 Ga. App. 121, 756 S.E.2d 255 (2014).

Investigatory stop.

- Because police officers saw a vehicle matching a dispatcher's description shortly after receiving the dispatch, and the vehicle attempted to elude the officers, in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a), the officers had a specific and articulable reason to stop the vehicle; consequently, the trial court properly denied the defendant's motions to suppress, in limine, and for a new trial. Francis v. State, 275 Ga. App. 164, 620 S.E.2d 431 (2005).

Since the defendant ignored the officers' commands during an investigatory stop based on a tipster's report of illegal drug activity, fled from the scene, and led the officers on a chase in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a), any taint arising from the allegedly illegal stop was purged and the defendant's flight provided a legitimate basis for discovery of evidence in the defendant's car. Prather v. State, 279 Ga. App. 873, 633 S.E.2d 46 (2006).

Trial court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress because undisputed facts showed that the initial stop of the vehicle on the highway ramp did not result in a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment since the defendant fled with the vehicle and, after the defendant fled from the initial stop, the officer pursued the defendant and observed the defendant commit traffic violations, speeding, running a red light, and improper lane usage, which provided a valid basis for the second stop. Jenkins v. State, 345 Ga. App. 684, 813 S.E.2d 438 (2018).

Illegal Terry stop does not provide carte blanche to violate O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395. Davis v. State, 235 Ga. App. 10, 507 S.E.2d 827 (1998).

Officer waving a car to a stop was not a Terry stop by virtue of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395. - A DUI defendant was not forced to stop by a police officer who waved the defendant down by virtue of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 because the officer told the defendant that the defendant was free to go and there was no pursuit involved. Butler v. State, 303 Ga. App. 564, 694 S.E.2d 168 (2010).

Probable cause to arrest for violation.

- In an arrestee's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit alleging that that the arrestee was falsely arrested in violation of U.S. Const., amend. IV the arresting officer was entitled to qualified immunity because actual probable cause to affect the arrestee's arrest for violating O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(c) existed after police received a citizen call about a civilian car using police-like strobe lights, the arrestee's car matched the citizen's description, the officer saw the arrestee activate strobe lights on the arrestee's car, and the officer found a strobe light switch box in the car. Baker v. Moskau, 335 Fed. Appx. 864 (11th Cir. 2009)(Unpublished).

No audible signal given.

- When indictment charged the defendant with attempting to elude "after having been given visual and audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop" but, at trial, the arresting officer testified that the officer used only visual signals, the state failed to prove the signal was given in the manner alleged, and the evidence was insufficient to support the charge as made in the indictment. Little v. State, 202 Ga. App. 7, 413 S.E.2d 496 (1991).

Offenses of fleeing and eluding not merged with suspended license violation.

- Convictions under both O.C.G.A. §§ 40-5-58(c) and40-6-395(b)(5)(A) were proper under O.C.G.A. § 16-1-6 as the elements of both charged offenses required different proof. Under O.C.G.A. § 40-5-58(c), the state proved that the defendant was declared an habitual violator, was properly notified of such status, and that the defendant operated a vehicle without having obtained a valid driver's license; while under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(b)(5)(A), proof that the driver committed a misdemeanor while fleeing or attempting to elude, that the driver was trying to escape arrest for a felony offense other than road violations, and that the driver committed one of the statutorily enumerated acts was required. Buggay v. State, 263 Ga. App. 520, 588 S.E.2d 244 (2003).

Sufficient evidence of first degree homicide by vehicle while eluding.

- Evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of first degree homicide by vehicle while fleeing and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle because the officer began following a car as the officer suspected that the driver was impaired; the officer activated the vehicle's lights to stop the car to investigate whether the driver was impaired, but the defendant did not pull over and stop; after the officer blew the air horn to give the defendant an audible stop signal, the car accelerated; seconds later, the car failed to negotiate a sharp curve and crashed into a utility pole; on arrival at the hospital emergency room, the passenger was declared dead; and the passenger died as a result of injuries suffered in the crash. Moceri v. State, 338 Ga. App. 329, 788 S.E.2d 899 (2016), cert. denied, No. S17C0095, 2017 Ga. LEXIS 210 (Ga. 2017).

Indictment for felony murder and vehicular homicide.

- Defendant could be indicted for vehicular homicide under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-393 and felony murder during the commission of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395. State v. Tiraboschi, 269 Ga. 812, 504 S.E.2d 689 (1998).

Charge predicate to felony murder.

- Charge under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer served as a predicate to felony murder. State v. Tiraboschi, 269 Ga. 812, 504 S.E.2d 689 (1998).

Dual prosecution valid, but sentencing merged.

- Defendant could be lawfully prosecuted for both O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a) and (b)(5)(A) without offending O.C.G.A. § 16-1-7(a), although the defendant could not be sentenced for both; the court found that because all of the evidence was used up to prove the crime of felony fleeing or attempting to elude, the misdemeanor conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude merged into the greater offense. Buggay v. State, 263 Ga. App. 520, 588 S.E.2d 244 (2003).

Conviction upheld.

- Defendant was properly convicted of a charge of attempting to elude a police officer when the evidence showed that the officer was on patrol and in the officer's patrol car and had the officer's blue light flashing and siren sounding. Cook v. State, 180 Ga. App. 877, 350 S.E.2d 847 (1986).

Evidence was sufficient to support the conviction of the defendant, notwithstanding that a videotape recorded by a video camera in the arresting officer's patrol car indicated that the defendant's vehicle disappeared from the officer's view as the officer completed a U-turn and had already come to a stop by the time the officer made a left turn into a commercial complex, since the officer testified that the defendant was the driver of the vehicle and that the defendant attempted to elude the pursuing police officer through the defendant's actions and denials after the defendant brought the defendant's vehicle to a stop. Turner v. State, 236 Ga. App. 592, 512 S.E.2d 699 (1999).

Defendant's conviction under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 was upheld as: (1) the conviction was supported by sufficient evidence of the defendant's failure to yield to an uniformed police officer driving a marked police vehicle when commanded to do so; (2) the issue as to whether a failure to stop was wilful was a question for the jury upon consideration of the words, conduct, demeanor, motive, and all other circumstances connected with the act; (3) a motion to quash the accusation contested the authenticity of the state's evidence and did not attack the accusation for a facial defect, thus making denial of the motion proper; (4) the pursuing officer was not called upon to exercise the legislative function of defining what constituted a crime, but the executive branch function of enforcing the law; (5) there was no constitutional requirement that the statute had to contain a statement that a justification defense be asserted; (6) the State Court of Douglas County had subject-matter jurisdiction over the case; and (7) since the defendant was not found guilty of a wilful failure to stop, a contention that the defendant could not be tried for the offense was moot. Harbuck v. State, 280 Ga. 775, 631 S.E.2d 351 (2006).

Given evidence from an ensuing police officer identifying the defendant as the driver of the vehicle stopped, and because the jury was the judge of the credibility of the witnesses presented at trial, and was authorized the reject the defendant's alibi defense, sufficient evidence was presented to support the defendant's convictions for reckless driving, failure to maintain a lane, driving with defective equipment, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, and obstruction of a police officer. Daniel v. State, 282 Ga. App. 291, 638 S.E.2d 430 (2006).

Because sufficient direct and circumstantial evidence showed that the defendant, a prior felon wielding a weapon, engaged in a fight with the two victims, fatally wounding one and shooting the other in the arm, and thereafter fled from police, the defendant's convictions for involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, fleeing and eluding, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon were upheld on appeal. Alvin v. State, 287 Ga. App. 350, 651 S.E.2d 489 (2007).

Evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's convictions for trafficking in cocaine, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and felony fleeing or attempting to elude based on the defendant's involvement in a police chase that included speeds in excess of 100 m.p.h. in a residential area and the defendant's attempt to flee on foot. Hinton v. State, 297 Ga. App. 565, 677 S.E.2d 752 (2009).

Evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's conviction for fleeing from an officer since the defendant admitted to being the driver of the vehicle and that the defendant "freaked out" when the co-defendant returned to the car indicating that a fast food restaurant robbery had taken place and police sirens were heard, so the defendant "hit the gas" when a sergeant pulled behind the vehicle. Broyard v. State, 325 Ga. App. 794, 755 S.E.2d 36 (2014).

Evidence was sufficient to support the appellant's conviction as a party to the crime of violating O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a) for fleeing and eluding because the appellant testified and admitted shoplifting, admitted to having a prior record of shoplifting, had only recently been released from prison, and that getting caught on the day of the events would be a parole violation that would send the appellant back to prison. McNeely v. State, 296 Ga. 422, 768 S.E.2d 751 (2015).

Officer's testimony was sufficient to establish the defendant's identity as the individual who refused to bring a vehicle to a stop after having been given a visual and audible signal by the officer. Glispie v. State, 335 Ga. App. 177, 779 S.E.2d 767 (2015), aff'd in part and rev'd in part, 300 Ga. 128 793 S.E.2d 381 (Ga. 2016).

Evidence sufficient.

- There was evidence sufficient to convince any rational trier of fact of the existence of the essential elements of the crime of attempting to elude an officer. Hassell v. State, 212 Ga. App. 432, 442 S.E.2d 261 (1994); Finlon v. State, 228 Ga. App. 213, 491 S.E.2d 458 (1997); Davidson v. State, 237 Ga. App. 580, 516 S.E.2d 90 (1999); Gibson v. State, 243 Ga. App. 610, 533 S.E.2d 783 (2000).

Evidence that the arresting officer was uniformed and driving a marked patrol car and that the defendant fled after a license check had been completed supported the defendant's conviction. Davis v. State, 235 Ga. App. 10, 507 S.E.2d 827 (1998).

Evidence was sufficient to prove that the defendant was guilty of reckless driving and attempting to elude an officer when the defendant led the officer on a high speed chase driving on the wrong side of the road and wilfully failed to bring the defendant's car to a stop after the officer activated the patrol car's blue lights and siren. Brackins v. State, 249 Ga. App. 788, 549 S.E.2d 775 (2001).

Evidence authorized the trial court to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant attempted to elude a police officer under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a) as the defendant wilfully failed and refused to bring the vehicle to a stop when given visual and audible signals to do so. Weir v. State, 257 Ga. App. 387, 571 S.E.2d 191 (2002).

Convictions for armed robbery, aggravated assault, fleeing to elude a police officer, and reckless driving were all upheld on appeal given the sufficiency of the identification evidence supplied by the victim, an investigating officer, and the arresting officer, as well as observations made by the latter in apprehending the defendant; moreover, the defendant's failure to object to the admission of a photographic lineup and show-up as impermissibly suggestive precluded appellate review of those issues. Newton v. State, 280 Ga. App. 709, 634 S.E.2d 839 (2006).

Evidence supported a defendant's convictions for fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer as an underlying offense for felony murder, theft by taking, vehicular homicide, disregarding a traffic control device, failing to stop at a stop sign, and reckless driving as: (1) the defendant stole a vehicle and was spotted by an officer shortly after the vehicle was reported as stolen; (2) when the officer began to follow the vehicle, the vehicle rapidly accelerated; (3) the officer followed the stolen vehicle for several blocks, with both vehicles traveling between 60-70 miles per hour; (4) the vehicle continued to accelerate after the officer turned on the officer's blue lights and siren; (5) when the stolen vehicle ran a red light, the vehicle struck a car, killing the driver; and (6) the officer and the owner of the stolen vehicle identified the defendant as the person driving the stolen vehicle. Ferguson v. State, 280 Ga. 893, 635 S.E.2d 144 (2006).

Evidence supported a defendant's conviction of bringing stolen property to Georgia, eluding an officer, and possessing marijuana as a party, if not as a conspirator, since: (1) the defendant discussed with the defendant's boyfriend what would happen if they were apprehended by the police; (2) the boyfriend gave the defendant a handgun after the boyfriend stole a new gun and the defendant packed two guns with the defendant's personal items and the ski masks; (3) the defendant suspected that the truck was stolen, refused to ask about the truck's origin, saw the stolen gun on the seat of the truck, observed two gas drive-offs, ate stolen food, smoked shared marijuana repeatedly, and sat next to the glove compartment where the marijuana lay; and (4) the defendant was silent during the police pursuits, saw the defendant's boyfriend retrieve a stolen handgun just prior to an assault of a police officer, did not hinder the boyfriend or warn the police, lied to the police to cover up the matter, and referred to the entire affair as having "fun for a minute." Michael v. State, 281 Ga. App. 289, 635 S.E.2d 790 (2006), overruled on other grounds by Gibbs v. State, 340 Ga. App. 723, 798 S.E.2d 308 (2017).

There was sufficient evidence to convict the defendants of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a); both of the defendants, along with the driver, fled after the vehicle in which they were riding crashed, and, as a result, the defendants, by fleeing with the driver, became chargeable as parties to the crime. Cooper v. State, 281 Ga. App. 882, 637 S.E.2d 480 (2006).

There was sufficient evidence to support a defendant's conviction for fleeing and eluding the police based on the defendant, after panicking from striking a vehicle in a nightclub parking lot, testifying at trial that the defendant attempted to flee to avoid arrest for driving under the influence and for striking the parked car. Adams v. State, 293 Ga. App. 377, 667 S.E.2d 186 (2008).

Evidence that the defendant eluded police at 75 miles per hour (mph) in a 25 mph zone, ran several stop signs, abandoned the car, and fled on foot was sufficient to convict the defendant of fleeing and attempting to elude in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a). Bridges v. State, 293 Ga. App. 783, 668 S.E.2d 293 (2008).

Evidence that a defendant gave a fake name and address, sped from the scene of a traffic stop, abandoned the truck, and continued to run from, hide from, and fight with police was more than sufficient to support convictions for misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer in violation of O.C.G.A. § 16-10-24(a) and fleeing or attempting to elude in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a). Lightsey v. State, 302 Ga. App. 294, 690 S.E.2d 675 (2010).

Because the defendant chose to run away from a traffic stop, a police officer had probable cause to arrest the defendant for fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer; voluntarily throwing a digital scale and a baggie of suspected cocaine to the sidewalk near parking spaces within an apartment complex demonstrated an abandonment of the items. State v. Nesbitt, 305 Ga. App. 28, 699 S.E.2d 368 (2010).

Evidence was sufficient to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of two counts of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer because officers pursued the defendant's fleeing vehicle in a high-speed chase in patrol vehicles clearly marked with their emergency lights and sirens activated; despite those warnings, the defendant ran a stop sign and a red light and refused to stop the defendant's vehicle until "stop sticks" disabled the defendant's vehicle. Tauch v. State, 305 Ga. App. 643, 700 S.E.2d 645 (2010).

Evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of felony fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, failure to stop upon striking an unattended vehicle, and failure to stop at or return to the scene of an accident, violations of O.C.G.A. §§ 40-6-395(a) and (b)(5)(A),40-6-270(a), and40-6-271(a), when the defendant refused to stop a vehicle for two bicycle-patrol uniformed officers, drove the vehicle into one of the officers, struck two unattended vehicles, and struck an officer's marked bicycle. Fairwell v. State, 311 Ga. App. 834, 717 S.E.2d 332 (2011).

Evidence that the defendant traveled 0.7 miles before stopping after the officers engaged the emergency lights and siren on the patrol car, passing a number of safe locations to stop, supported the defendant's conviction for fleeing and attempting to elude. King v. State, 317 Ga. App. 834, 733 S.E.2d 21 (2012).

Evidence insufficient for conviction.

- Johnson v. State, 246 Ga. App. 197, 540 S.E.2d 212 (2000).

Evidence was not sufficient to sustain the defendant's conviction for fleeing and attempting to elude police because the state charged the defendant with striking or colliding with another vehicle while the defendant was attempting to elude police, but there was no evidence that a vehicle the defendant drove struck or collided with another vehicle. James v. State, 265 Ga. App. 689, 595 S.E.2d 364 (2004).

Given evidence that the pursuing officer failed to activate the blue emergency lights, and no evidence was presented that the officer gave any other signal to communicate to the driver of the pursued vehicle of the requirement for that driver to stop, the defendant's conviction under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a) was reversed. Bradford v. State, 287 Ga. App. 50, 651 S.E.2d 356 (2007).

Because the defendant complied with a deputy's signal to stop a vehicle and the deputy did not arrest the defendant or instruct the defendant to remain at the scene while the officer chased a wanted person, the defendant's subsequent flight from the scene did not equate to fleeing pursuit by an officer under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(a); accordingly, the trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. Bledson v. State, 294 Ga. App. 772, 670 S.E.2d 223 (2008).

Evidence insufficient to support felony conviction.

- Evidence was sufficient to support the defendant's guilty verdict as to misdemeanor fleeing and eluding, in violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395, but the evidence was insufficient to show that there were traffic conditions that placed the general public at risk of serious injury to support the defendant's conviction for felony fleeing and eluding. Hicks v. State, 321 Ga. App. 773, 743 S.E.2d 458 (2013).

Circumstantial evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of misdemeanor fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer because a deputy identified the defendant as the driver; another officer followed the defendant out of the parking lot when the defendant refused to stop; and the officer activated the vehicle's lights and siren but lost sight of the speeding car moments before a car of the same color struck another vehicle just ahead; however, the evidence was insufficient to convict the defendant of felony fleeing or attempting to elude as no evidence was presented that the defendant was attempting to elude arrest for a non-traffic violation when the defendant struck the other vehicle. Johnson v. State, 337 Ga. App. 622, 788 S.E.2d 559 (2016).

Evidence insufficient for arrest.

- Because the circumstances of the defendant's low-speed flight from an uniformed detective, who was driving an unmarked vehicle, were insufficient to present law enforcement with evidence of a particular crime, the defendant could not be charged with the crime of attempting to elude an officer, and police lacked the probable cause sufficient to warrant an arrest for the offense; thus, the search incident to the arrest was invalid, warranting suppression of the evidence seized. Stephens v. State, 278 Ga. App. 694, 629 S.E.2d 565 (2006).

Directed verdict motion properly denied.

- In a case involving charges of obstruction of an officer and attempting to elude, a motion for directed verdict was properly denied since the officer was investigating the defendant for driving under the influence and the defendant did not respond to the officer's orders and forced the officer to get a warrant to effectuate an arrest. Reed v. State, 205 Ga. App. 209, 422 S.E.2d 15, cert. denied, No. S92C1446, 1992 Ga. LEXIS 865 (1992).

Counsel not ineffective in conceding guilt.

- Counsel was not ineffective by conceding defendant's guilt on a fleeing and eluding charge in order to build credibility and avoid conviction on the more serious charges; the fleeing charge carried a five-year maximum sentence, O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395(b)(5)(A), whereas the defendant faced a sentence of life without parole were the defendant convicted of armed robbery. Payne v. State, 338 Ga. App. 677, 791 S.E.2d 451 (2016).

Mandatory sentence.

- Because O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395 imposed a minimum sentence of 10 days upon conviction of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, the trial court erred in failing to sentence a defendant to the mandatory minimum incarceration. State v. Searcy, 277 Ga. App. 642, 627 S.E.2d 210 (2006).

Cited in Snell v. McCoy, 135 Ga. App. 832, 219 S.E.2d 482 (1975); State v. Edwards, 236 Ga. 104, 222 S.E.2d 385 (1976); Torley v. State, 141 Ga. App. 366, 233 S.E.2d 476 (1977); Brock v. State, 146 Ga. App. 78, 245 S.E.2d 442 (1978); McSears v. State, 247 Ga. 48, 273 S.E.2d 847 (1981); Hill v. State, 159 Ga. App. 589, 284 S.E.2d 92 (1981); Lester v. State, 253 Ga. 235, 320 S.E.2d 142 (1984); Freeman v. State, 194 Ga. App. 905, 392 S.E.2d 330 (1990); Cabral v. State, 199 Ga. App. 557, 405 S.E.2d 556 (1991); Jackson v. State, 223 Ga. App. 27, 477 S.E.2d 28 (1996); English v. State, 261 Ga. App. 157, 582 S.E.2d 136 (2003); State v. Stilley, 261 Ga. App. 868, 584 S.E.2d 9 (2003); Faulkner v. State, 277 Ga. App. 702, 627 S.E.2d 423 (2006); Jaheni v. State, 285 Ga. App. 266, 645 S.E.2d 735 (2007); Leachman v. State, 286 Ga. App. 708, 649 S.E.2d 886 (2007); McClendon v. State, 287 Ga. App. 238, 651 S.E.2d 165 (2007); Green v. State, 287 Ga. App. 248, 651 S.E.2d 174 (2007); Francis v. State, 287 Ga. App. 428, 651 S.E.2d 779 (2007); Segel v. State, 293 Ga. App. 506, 667 S.E.2d 670 (2008); Westmoreland v. State, 287 Ga. 688, 699 S.E.2d 13 (2010); Myers v. State, 311 Ga. App. 668, 716 S.E.2d 772 (2011); Russell v. State, 319 Ga. App. 472, 735 S.E.2d 797 (2012).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Elements required to determine if cases are felonies requiring transfer to superior court. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U96-7.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 61A C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 1514 et seq.

ALR.

- What conduct in driving an automobile amounts to wantonness, wilfullness, or the like, precluding defense of contributory negligence, 119 A.L.R. 654.

Automobiles: liability of one fleeing police for injury resulting from collision of police vehicle with another vehicle, person or object, 51 A.L.R.3d 1226.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 40-6-395

Total Results: 20  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Westmoreland v. State, 699 S.E.2d 13 (Ga. 2010).

Cited 50 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 28, 2010 | 287 Ga. 688, 2010 Fulton County D. Rep. 2108

...From the evidence of record a rational trier of fact could infer Williams' participation in and criminal intent to commit the crimes for which he was convicted. Id. (b) With regard to the crime of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, "[t]he relevant statute, OCGA § 40-6-395(a)..., provides: `Any driver of a vehicle who willfully fails or refuses to bring his vehicle to a stop, or who otherwise flees or attempts to elude a pursuing police vehicle when given a visual or audible signal to bring the vehicle to a...
...[2] The State introduced into evidence four DVD recordings made from the dashboard cameras in the patrol cars involved in the pursuit. [3] The evidence at trial established that the pursuing vehicles did not exceed the posted speed limit. [4] OCGA § 40-6-395(a) provides: "It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or a...
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Smith v. State, 723 S.E.2d 915 (Ga. 2012).

Cited 47 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 23, 2012 | 290 Ga. 768, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 1106

...218, 224, 73 S.Ct. 227, 97 L.Ed. 260 (1952).]. . . . Accordingly, the starting point must be the statute itself. (Punctuation and footnotes omitted; emphasis supplied) State v. Marlowe, 277 Ga. 383, 383-384(1), 589 S.E.2d 69 (2003). Pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395: It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop....
...be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of $5,000.00 or imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years or both. Id. at (a) and (b)(5)(A). Based on the plain language of the statute, the act or conduct that is prohibited by OCGA § 40-6-395 is the "willful[] ....
...an individual police vehicle or police officer after being given a proper visual or audible signal to stop from that individual police vehicle or officer, and not just the act of fleeing itself, that forms the proper "unit of prosecution" under OCGA § 40-6-395....
...ated to each of the individual police vehicles involved in the high-speed chase. Thus, in order to find Smith guilty of attempting to elude a police officer with respect to each vehicle, the jury had to find that all of the relevant elements of OCGA § 40-6-395 had been satisfied with respect to each police vehicle involved in the chase....
...ming from violations of a single statutory provision (see OCGA § 16-7-1(a)), it is hereby disapproved. [5] Indeed, the possibility for multiple punishment in the context of a high speed chase involving several police officers makes sense under OCGA § 40-6-395....
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State v. Ogilvie, 292 Ga. 6 (Ga. 2012).

Cited 33 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 5, 2012 | 734 S.E.2d 50, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 3459

...Any person who causes the death of another person, without an intention to do so, by violating any provision of this title other than subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-163, subsection (b) of Code Section 40-6-270, Code Section 40-6-390 or 40-6-391, or subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-395 commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the second degree when such violation i's the cause of said death and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished as provided in Code Section 17-10-3. To the extent other cases hold that an accident charge is required in similar circumstances, they are disapproved....
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Johnson v. Avis Rent a Car Sys., LLC (two Cases), 858 S.E.2d 23 (Ga. 2021).

Cited 21 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 3, 2021 | 311 Ga. 588

...uilty to two counts of serious injury by vehicle (OCGA § 40-6-394), two counts of hit and run resulting in serious injury (OCGA § 40-6-270), one count of reckless driving (OCGA § 40-6-390), one count of fleeing or attempting to elude police (OCGA § 40-6-395), one count of failure to maintain lane (OCGA § 40-6-48), and one count of felony theft by taking (OCGA § 16-8-2), and was sentenced to twenty years to serve in prison. 3 The Court of Appeals also concluded that Avis was entitled...
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Maxwell v. State, 644 S.E.2d 822 (Ga. 2007).

Cited 21 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 14, 2007 | 282 Ga. 22, 2007 Fulton County D. Rep. 1471

...er crimes stemming from an incident in which he drove his car into a crowd, hitting and killing the victim. [1] On appeal, Maxwell contends, *823 among other things, that the trial court erred by failing to strike certain jurors for cause; that OCGA § 40-6-395 is unconstitutional; and that the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions....
...bt of all the crimes for which he was convicted, [2] including, for the reasons explained below, the crime of fleeing and eluding a police officer. As for this latter crime, we must address Maxwell's contention that, under the interpretation of OCGA § 40-6-395 that he urges, the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction. [3] For the reasons that follow, we disagree. OCGA § 40-6-395 provides, in relevant part, as follows: (a) It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop....
...l police vehicle. Maxwell contends that this Code section only applies when an officer is in a police vehicle, and that, as the officers who signaled him to stop in this case were on foot, the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction under § 40-6-395....
...A criminal statute "`must be construed strictly against criminal liability and, if it is susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation, the interpretation most favorable to the party facing criminal liability must be adopted.'" [4] We conclude, however, *824 that OCGA § 40-6-395(a) is not susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation....
...art of it meaningless." [5] Moreover, "in construing language in any one part of a statute, a court should consider the entire scheme of the statute and attempt to gather the legislative intent from the statute as a whole." [6] The first sentence of § 40-6-395(a) provides that a person violates the Code section if he refuses to stop when he flees or attempts to elude either a "pursuing police vehicle or police officer." If the phrase "pursuing ....
...police officer" does not mean a police officer on foot, then the phrase is meaningless, as the phrase "pursuing police vehicle" covers all police officers pursing in a police vehicle. Because courts should not construe any part of a statute to be meaningless, we decline to construe the first sentence of § 40-6-395(a) to apply only to police vehicles. Instead, we construe this sentence to express an intent that it is unlawful for a driver of a vehicle to fail to stop when given a signal to do so by a police officer on foot. Moreover, the second sentence of § 40-6-395(a) specifies that the signal given by a police officer may be by hand or voice....
...s only unlawful to fail to stop when given a signal to do so by an officer in a police vehicle. Accordingly, in the present case, when Maxwell failed to stop after being given a signal to do so by a police officer on foot and in uniform, he violated § 40-6-395....
...On January 30, 2004, Maxwell was indicted for four counts of felony murder, with the underlying felonies being aggravated assault with a vehicle; hit and run under OCGA § 40-6-270(b); obstruction of a peace officer; and felony fleeing and attempting to elude under OCGA § 40-6-395....
...6, Maxwell filed a notice of appeal. The appeal was docketed in this Court on August 31, 2006, and was submitted for decision on briefs. [2] Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). [3] Maxwell also contends that OCGA § 40-6-395 is unconstitutionally vague....
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McNeely v. State, 296 Ga. 422 (Ga. 2015).

Cited 16 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jan 20, 2015 | 768 S.E.2d 751

...le and probation by shoplifting would 4 send her back to prison. She denied, however, that she encouraged Smith to avoid being pulled over and claimed she told Smith to slow down. 1. Pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a): “It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop.” Relying upon Carter v....
...Further, “evidence of the defendant’s conduct before and after the crime may give rise to an inference that [s]he participated in the crime.” (Citation omitted.) Id. at 352. This rule is applicable to the crime of fleeing or attempting to elude a police vehicle pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)....
...State, ___ Ga. ___ (1) (665 SE2d 348) 2014 WL 5506666 (Nov. 3, 2014); see also Dixon v. State, 294 Ga. 40 (3) (751 SE2d 69) (2013). Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support appellant’s conviction, as a party to the crime, of violating OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)....
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Parrott v. State, 864 S.E.2d 80 (Ga. 2021).

Cited 12 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 5, 2021 | 312 Ga. 580

312 Ga. 580 FINAL COPY S21A0753. PARROTT v. THE STATE. WARREN, Justice. Jimmy Lloyd Parrott was convicted for, among other things, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer in violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5). After his initial probationary sentence for that offense was deemed void, he was resentenced to five years in prison. Parrott appeals from that resentencing, challenging the constitutionality of the sentencing provision of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) under the Equal Protection Clause....
...For the following reasons, we affirm. 1. In 2014, Parrott pleaded guilty to six traffic-related offenses, including being a “habitual violator” under OCGA § 40-5-58 and felony fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, in violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5)....
...probation, plus a $5,000 fine, for felony fleeing. After he completed his first sentence and began serving the consecutive sentence for felony fleeing, Parrott moved to vacate as void the probation portion of that sentence, arguing that the applicable statute, OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5), did not authorize probation.1 Parrott insisted, however, that the fine portion was still valid, so there was no need for resentencing....
...for not less than one year nor more than five years or both. . . . Following adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of [the enumerated offense provisions], the sentence shall not be suspended, probated, deferred, or withheld[.] OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (emphasis supplied). 2 Parrott objected to the resentencing, contending, among other things, that resentencing him for felony fleeing would violate the constitutional prohibition on double jeopardy and that the sentencing provision of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) was unconstitutional because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution....
...The trial court overruled Parrott’s objections but gave him a chance to seek the withdrawal of his guilty plea, which Parrott declined. After a sentencing hearing, the court resentenced Parrott to five years in prison, without a fine. 2. We first address Parrott’s claim that OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. In that regard, Parrott argues that OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) on its face treats him differently than others in a similar situation because, he says, that provision mandates prison time for indigent defendants — like himself — who are unable to pay the $5,000 fine, whereas those who can afford the fine can avoid a prison sentence....
...Parrott’s argument is without merit. 3 Even if Parrott is correct that the Equal Protection Clause prohibits differentiating between indigent and non-indigent defendants in the way he claims — a question we need not decide here — nothing in the plain language of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) conditions the imposition of a fine on the defendant’s ability to pay or otherwise treats indigent defendants differently from those who are not indigent. See OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5); Nicely v....
...On appeal, neither party disputes that Parrott’s original sentence of five years’ probation for felony fleeing was void, and we agree with that conclusion based on OCGA § 40-6- 395 (b) (5)’s express textual prohibition on the imposition of probation for a violation of that statute. See OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (“Following adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of [the enumerated offense provisions], the sentence shall not be suspended, probated, deferred, or withheld[.]”) (emphasis supplied)....
...the trial court in this case did not abuse its discretion when it corrected Parrott’s partially void sentence for felony fleeing by vacating that sentence in its entirety and imposing a new sentence on that count within the parameters of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5)....
... deal, the terms of which should not be treated in isolation from one another but rather as a cohesive whole”) (citation and punctuation omitted). 12 Decided October 5, 2021. OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5); constitutional question....
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Abney v. State, 831 S.E.2d 778 (Ga. 2019).

Cited 10 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Aug 5, 2019

...Abney argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, because he was merely a passenger in Hampton's vehicle and there was no evidence that Abney encouraged Hampton to elude the police officer. We disagree. Pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), it is "unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible sign...
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Abney v. State, 306 Ga. 448 (Ga. 2019).

Cited 9 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Aug 5, 2019

...Abney argues that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his conviction for fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, because he was merely a passenger in Hampton’s vehicle and there was no evidence that Abney encouraged Hampton to elude the police officer. We disagree. Pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), it is “unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible...
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Hardnett v. State, 678 S.E.2d 323 (Ga. 2009).

Cited 8 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 18, 2009 | 285 Ga. 470, 2009 Fulton County D. Rep. 1683

...[5] Phillips v. State, 275 Ga. 595, 596, 571 S.E.2d 361 (2002); Ashford v. State, 271 Ga. 148, 149, 518 S.E.2d 420 (1999). [6] Smith v. State, 284 Ga. 599, 603, 669 S.E.2d 98 (2008). [7] Prather v. State, 279 Ga.App. 873, 875-876, 633 S.E.2d 46 (2006); OCGA § 40-6-395(a)....
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Ferguson v. State, 635 S.E.2d 144 (Ga. 2006).

Cited 8 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 18, 2006 | 280 Ga. 893, 2006 Fulton County D. Rep. 2904

...Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict, the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Ferguson committed the felony offense of fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, as that offense is defined in OCGA § 40-6-395(a) and (b)(5)(A), and that, during the commission of that felony offense, Ferguson caused the death of the victim....
...[6] Judgment affirmed in part and vacated in part. All the Justices concur. NOTES [1] The crimes occurred on April 14, 2003. On July 1, 2003, Ferguson was indicted for felony murder, with felony fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer as the underlying felony, see OCGA § 40-6-395(a) and (b)(5)(A); theft by taking; vehicular homicide in the first degree; felony fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer; two counts of disregarding a traffic control device; one count of failure to stop at a stop sign; and reckless driving....
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State v. Holland, 841 S.E.2d 723 (Ga. 2020).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Apr 6, 2020 | 308 Ga. 412

...e aforethought, causes the death of another person through the violation of [OCGA § 40-6- 163, overtaking and passing a school bus], [OCGA § 40-6-390, reckless driving], [OCGA § 40-6-391, driving under the influence], or [OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer] commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the first degree and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than three years nor more tha...
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Smith v. State, 681 S.E.2d 161 (Ga. 2009).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 29, 2009 | 285 Ga. 725, 2009 Fulton County D. Rep. 2647

...forethought, causes the death of another person through the violation of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-163 [overtaking a school bus], Code Section 40-6-390 [reckless driving] or 40-6-391 [driving under the influence], or subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-395 [fleeing or attempting to elude an officer] commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the first degree")....
...the predicate offense was the proximate cause of the victim's death. In the Interest of L.P., 228 Ga.App. 786, 787, 492 S.E.2d 757 (1997). The stipulated facts in this case established Smith's commission of the predicate traffic offense, i.e., OCGA § 40-6-395 (fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer)....
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Sosebee v. State, 317 Ga. 424 (Ga. 2023).

Cited 5 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 11, 2023

...violation of [OCGA §] 16-5-1 (c)[.] Count 4 of the indictment charged that Sosebee, without malice aforethought, cause[d] the death of Brian Hayes, a human being, through a violation of [OCGA 4 §] 40-6-395, Fleeing and Attempting to Elude, as alleged in [C]ount 6 of this Indictment, in violation of [OCGA §] 40-6-393 (a)[.] Count 6 of the indictment charged that Sosebee did willfully fail to bring his vehicle to a stop af...
...excess of 20 miles per hour above the posted speed limit and strike or collide with another vehicle and flee in traffic conditions which placed the general public at risk of receiving serious injuries, in violation of [former] [OCGA §] 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A)[.] 1....
...the offense of homicide by vehicle in the first degree under OCGA § 40- 6-393 (a) does not. The latter Code section criminalizes causing the death of another person through the violation of OCGA §§ 40-6-163 (a), 40-6-390 through 40-6-391, or 40-6-395 (a).4 Pertinent to this 2 See Green v....
...human being irrespective of malice.” 4 The 2008 version of OCGA § 40-6-393, applicable at the time of Sosebee’s offenses, provides in subsection (a): “Any person who, without malice 7 case, violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) is a misdemeanor.5 Felony- aforethought, causes the death of another person through the violation of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-163, Code Sections 40-6-390 through 40-6- 391, or subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-395 commits the offense of homicide by vehicle in the first degree[.]” OCGA § 40-6-393 was amended effective May 3, 2021, after the date of Sosebee’s offenses....
...One aspect of the amendment was to include a new offense, reckless stunt driving, among the predicate acts for homicide by vehicle in the first degree set out in OCGA § 40-6-393 (a). See id.; Ga. L. 2021, p. 228, § 6 (adding a new Code section, OCGA § 40-6-390.1). 5 The 2012 version of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (1), applicable at the time of Sosebee’s offenses, provides: Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a high and aggravated misdemeanor and:...
...convictions were obtained to the date of the current arrest for which a conviction is obtained, shall be fined not less than $2,500.00 nor more than 8 level fleeing under former OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A), which was charged in Count 6, has elements in addition to those required to prove a violation of misdemeanor fleeing under OCGA § 40-6-395 (a).6 As a greater offense, felony fleeing is a distinct offense from a $5,000.00, and the fine shall not be subject to suspension, stay, or probation, and imprisoned for not less than 90 days nor more than 12 months....
...paragraph, previous pleas of nolo contendere accepted within such ten-year period shall constitute convictions. We note without comment that, effective July 1, 2022, a fourth or subsequent conviction of fleeing under OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) is a felony. See Ga. L. 2022, p. 100 (Act No. 646), § 1; OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (1) (D)....
...228, § 6; OCGA § 40-6-390.1 (a) (4). In addition, a fourth or subsequent conviction, within a ten-year period of time, of driving under the impairing influence of alcohol or drugs under OCGA § 40- 6-391 is a felony. See OCGA § 40-6-391 (c) (4). 6 The 2012 version of OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A), applicable at the time of Sosebee’s offenses, provides: Any person violating the provisions of subsection (a) of this Code section who, while fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police veh...
...paragraph (5) of subsection (a) of Code Section 40-6-391; or (v) Leaves the state shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of $5,000.00 or 9 violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) that is specified as one of the predicate offenses of homicide by vehicle in the first degree....
...In regard to felony murder and fleeing in particular, this Court concluded in State v. Tiraboschi, 269 Ga. 812 (504 SE2d 689) (1998), that “when the General Assembly created the felony level crime of fleeing or attempting to elude, it knew that a violation of [former] OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A) would expose an accused to a charge of felony murder when imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years or both. Effective July 1, 2022, this subparagraph was redesignated as subsection (c), and additional aggravating factors were included....
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Starks v. State, 908 S.E.2d 614 (Ga. 2024).

Cited 4 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 5, 2024 | 320 Ga. 300

...offense in this case is predicated on fleeing and attempting to elude and the fleeing and attempting to elude statute provides that sentences under that statute cannot be served concurrently with any 14 other offense, see OCGA § 40-6-395 (d),9 the trial court erred in ordering that the sentences for Counts 4, 10-13, and 16 be served concurrently with the felony murder sentence. See Thompson v. State, 358 Ga. App. 553, 559 (2) (b) (855 SE2d 756) (2021) (because former OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (B) (which is now found in OCGA § 40-6-395 (d)) prevents “any portion of a sentence for felony fleeing or eluding from ....
...er convictions”). Starks counters that this argument has no support because the discretion whether to impose concurrent or consecutive sentences “reside[s] entirely and solely within the breast of the trial judge[.]” Keys v. 9 OCGA § 40-6-395 (d) provides: Following adjudication of guilt or imposition of sentence for a violation of subparagraph (b) (1) (D) or subsection (c) of this Code section, the sentence shall not be suspended, probated, deferred, or...
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Chambers v. State, 320 Ga. 770 (Ga. 2025).

Cited 1 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jan 28, 2025

...concurrent life sentences in prison with the possibility of parole for the felony murder convictions and a concurrent term of 12 months in prison for reckless Appellant challenges only the felony murder convictions predicated on fleeing or attempting to elude, see OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), arguing that the evidence was constitutionally insufficient to establish an essential element of fleeing or attempting to elude — that the officer who gave the signal to stop was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,” id....
...convictions for felony murder predicated on the underlying felonies 5 of fleeing or attempting to elude because there was no evidence that Officer Sylvester was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office.” OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) provides: It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police o...
...The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.3 In construing OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), we apply the rules of statutory construction, which require that we “give the text its plain and ordinary meaning, view it in the context in which it appears, and read it in its most natural and reasonable way.” State v. Cook, 317 Ga. 659, 660 (893 SE2d 670) (2023) (cleaned up). “If the statutory text is clear and unambiguous, we attribute to the statute 3 OCGA § 40-6-395 (c) (1) and (2) provide that a person who violates subsection (a) while fleeing or attempting to elude and operates his vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit or strikes a pedestrian is guilty of a felony. 6 its plain meaning ....
...ich is written in the conjunctive: “The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.” OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) (emphasis supplied)....
...there is no violation when a person pulls over in response to the flashing lights and siren of a police car but then drives away when the driver of the supposed police car walks up to her car but is not in a uniform with a badge prominently displayed. Thus, reading OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) according to its plain meaning, as we must, we conclude that one of the essential elements of the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude is that the police officer who gave the signal to the defendant driver to stop must have been in uniform with his badge of office prominently displayed. The State and the dissent, however, resist this straightforward reading of the plain language of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) by relying on Maxwell v....
...ontext necessarily raises. Language that sounds like a holding — but actually exceeds the scope of the case’s factual context — is not a holding no matter how much it sounds like one.” (cleaned up)). In Maxwell, we did say that OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) could be construed “to mean that, when a police officer who is not in a vehicle gives a signal to stop, he or she must be ‘in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,’ and to mean that, when an officer who...
...at 24. However, as we have noted, Maxwell did not involve a defendant 10 fleeing from an officer in a marked police vehicle. Thus, contrary to the dissent’s assertion, Maxwell cannot be read to hold that the “and” in OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) is to be read disjunctively such that when a driver flees from an officer who is in a car, the State need only prove that the officer was in a marked police vehicle....
...dant fleeing from an officer who was not in a marked vehicle, unlike the officers here who were in a marked police vehicle. See Schoicket, 312 Ga. at 832. Accordingly, we conclude that in order for the State to establish a violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) when a driver flees or attempts 11 to elude an officer who is in a police vehicle, the State must prove that the officer was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office” and t...
...5 The Court of Appeals previously reached this same conclusion. See, e.g., Phillips v. State, 162 Ga. App. 471, 472 (291 SE2d 776) (1982) (reversing conviction for fleeing or eluding for insufficient evidence and stating that “[s]ince no violation of [the predecessor to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)] is shown unless the evidence demonstrates that the officer allegedly eluded was in the required uniform and that his vehicle was appropriately marked, the state’s contention that any evidentiary deficiency in this regard is harmless is meritless”)....
...111, 121 (823 SE2d 794) (2019) (Court of Appeals is bound by older precedent from that court “until reversed or overruled by the Supreme Court or overruled by the Court of Appeals.” (cleaned up)). To the extent Ray and other Court of Appeals cases are inconsistent with the interpretation of OCGA § 40-6-395 set forth today, they are overruled....
...Id. Judgment reversed in part and case remanded with direction. All the Justices concur, except Peterson, P. J., who concurs in judgment only in Division 2, and Ellington and LaGrua, JJ., who dissent. LAGRUA, Justice, dissenting. Because I believe the majority misconstrues OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) and our holding in Maxwell v. State, 282 Ga. 22 (644 SE2d 822) 24 (2007), I dissent. The majority decides today that for the State to establish a violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) for fleeing or attempting to elude, the State must prove both that the pursuing officer was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,” and that the pursuing vehicle was “appropriately marked” as an “o...
...395 (a) (providing that the officer giving an appropriate signal to stop “shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle”) (emphasis supplied). If OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) solely applied to situations where the pursuing officer was in a vehicle, I would find it easier to agree with the majority’s conclusion....
...that the conjunctive “and” plainly governs when pursuit is by vehicle but governs not at all when pursuit is by foot. 26 I contend that we should follow the statutory construction we established in Maxwell. In that case, given OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)’s explicit application to two different situations, we parsed the statute into two prongs — one applying to pursuit on foot, the other applying to pursuit by police vehicle — explaining that the last sentence of subsect...
...State, 261 Ga. App. 157, 158 (1) (582 SE2d 136) (2003) (same, citing Ray, 233 Ga. App. at 164 (1)); Cook v. State, 180 Ga. App. 877, 878-879 (1) (350 SE2d 847) (1986) (holding that a jury could “rationally conclude” that all the elements of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) were met “[w]hen the evidence shows that the officer was on patrol and in his patrol car and had his blue light flashing and siren sounding.” Any failure to prove all the elements of the statute was “harmless as a matter of fact...
... Thus, Maxwell considers “the entire scheme of the statute,” gives “sensible and intelligent effect to all of its provisions,” refrains from “construing the statute in a way that renders any part of it meaningless,” and fully effectuates OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)’s purpose of “[e]nsur[ing] that drivers of vehicles will have notice that they are being signaled to stop by the police.” Maxwell, 282 Ga....
...a marked patrol car with emergency lights and siren activated, which Chambers generally concedes in his reply brief,13 but Chambers failed to stop, leading to a high-speed pursuit with disastrous consequences. That is sufficient to satisfy OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) and uphold Chambers’s convictions for fleeing or attempting to elude. 645) (2010) (concluding that the evidence was sufficient to convict of fleeing or attempting to elude where officers engaged in a “high-speed chase” in ...

Smith v. State (Ga. 2025).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 21, 2025

...ss. The State presented compelling evidence that Smith committed felony murder, see OCGA § 16-5-1(c), when he struck and killed Martinez while attempting to elude a Georgia State Patrol trooper in violation of OCGA § 40-6-395(b)(5)(A);7 that he was under 6 “Evidence is admissible as intrinsic evidence when it is (1) an uncharged offense arising from the same transaction or series of transactions as the charged offense; (2) necessary to complete the s...

Chambers v. State (Ga. 2025).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jan 28, 2025

...The charges against the other defendants were related to the shooting that occurred on July 5 and to crimes committed in September 2017; the record on appeal does not reflect the disposition of those Appellant challenges only the felony murder convictions predicated on fleeing or attempting to elude, see OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), arguing that the evidence was constitutionally insufficient to establish an essential element of fleeing or attempting to elude — that the officer who gave the signal to stop was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,” id....
...o support his convictions for felony murder predicated on the underlying felonies of fleeing or attempting to elude because there was no evidence that Officer Sylvester was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office.” OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) provides: It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop....
...or siren. The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.3 In construing OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), we apply the rules of statutory construction, which require that we “give the text its plain and ordinary meaning, view it in the context in which it appears, and read it in its most natural and reasonable 3 OCGA § 40-6-395 (c), (1) and (2) provide that a person who violates subsection (a) while fleeing or attempting to elude and operates his vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit or strikes a pedestrian is guilty of a felony. 6 way.” State v....
...ich is written in the conjunctive: “The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.” OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) (emphasis supplied)....
...there is no violation when a person pulls over in response to the flashing lights and siren of a police car but then drives away when the driver of the supposed police car walks up to her car but is not in a uniform with a badge prominently displayed. Thus, reading OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) according to its plain meaning, as we must, we conclude that one of the essential elements of the offense of fleeing or attempting to elude is that the police officer who gave the signal to the defendant driver to stop must have been in uniform with his badge of office prominently displayed. The State and the dissent, however, resist this straightforward reading of the plain language of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) by relying on Maxwell v....
...issues that context necessarily raises. Language that sounds like a holding — but actually exceeds the scope of the case’s factual context — is not a holding no matter how much it sounds like one.”). In Maxwell, we did say that OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) could be construed “to mean that, when a police officer who is not in a vehicle gives a signal to stop, he or she must be ‘in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,’ and to mean that, when an officer who...
... vehicle must be appropriately marked.” Maxwell, 282 Ga. at 24. However, as we have noted, Maxwell did not involve a defendant fleeing from an officer in a marked police vehicle. Thus, contrary to the dissent’s assertion, Maxwell cannot be read to hold that the “and” in OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) is to be read disjunctively such that when a driver flees from an officer who is in a car, the State need only prove that the officer was in a marked police vehicle....
...an officer who was not in a marked vehicle, unlike the officers here who were in a marked police vehicle. See Schoicket, 312 Ga. at 832. 11 Accordingly, we conclude that in order for the State to establish a violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) when a driver flees or attempts to elude an officer who is in a police vehicle, the State must prove that the officer was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office” and that his or her vehicle was “appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.”5 2....
...5 The Court of Appeals previously reached this same conclusion. See, e.g., Phillips v. State, 162 Ga. App. 471, 472 (291 SE2d 776) (1982) (reversing conviction for fleeing or eluding for insufficient evidence and stating that “[s]ince no violation of [the predecessor to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)] is shown unless the evidence demonstrates that the officer allegedly eluded was in the required uniform and that his vehicle was appropriately marked, the state’s contention that any evidentiary deficiency in this regard is harmless is meritless.”)....
...111, 121 (823 SE2d 794) (2019) (Court of Appeals is bound by older precedent from that court “until reversed or overruled by the Supreme Court or overruled by the Court of Appeals.” (cleaned up)). To the extent Ray and other Court of Appeals cases are inconsistent with the interpretation of OCGA § 40-6-395 set forth today, they are overruled....
...All the Justices concur, except Peterson, P. J., who concurs in judgment only in Division 2, and Ellington and LaGrua, JJ., dissenting. 24 LAGRUA, Justice, dissenting. Because I believe the majority misconstrues OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) and our holding in Maxwell v. State, supra, I dissent. The majority decides today that for the State to establish a violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) for fleeing or attempting to elude, the State must prove both that the pursuing officer was “in uniform displaying his or her badge of office,” and that the pursuing vehicle was “appropriately marked” as an “official police vehicle.” The majority contends that this is the only way to give proper effect to the statutory conjunctive “and.” See OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) (providing that the officer giving an appropriate signal to stop “shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle”) (emphasis supplied). If OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) solely applied to situations where the pursuing officer was in a vehicle, I would find it easier to agree with the majority’s conclusion....
...26 that the conjunctive “and” plainly governs when pursuit is by vehicle but governs not at all when pursuit is by foot. I contend that we should follow the statutory construction we established in Maxwell. In that case, given OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)’s explicit application to two different situations, we parsed the statute into two prongs – one applying to pursuit on foot, the other applying to pursuit by police vehicle – explaining that the last sentence of subsect...
...State, 261 Ga. App. 157, 158 (1) (582 SE2d 136) (2003) (same, citing Ray, 233 Ga. App. at 164 (1)); Cook v. State, 180 Ga. App. 877, 878-879 (1) (350 SE2d 847) (1986) (holding that a jury could “rationally conclude” that all the elements of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) were met “[w]hen the evidence shows that the officer was on patrol and in his patrol car and had his blue light flashing and siren sounding.” Any failure to prove all the elements of the statute was “harmless as a matter of fact...
... Thus, Maxwell considers “the entire scheme of the statute,” gives “sensible and intelligent effect to all of its provisions,” refrains from “construing the statute in a way that renders any part of it meaningless,” and fully effectuates OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)’s purpose of “[e]nsur[ing] that drivers of vehicles will have notice that they are being signaled to stop by the police.” Maxwell, 282 Ga....
...a marked patrol car with emergency lights and siren activated, which Chambers generally concedes in his reply brief, 13 but Chambers failed to stop, leading to a high-speed pursuit with disastrous consequences. That is sufficient to satisfy OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) and the appellant for over three miles with siren and emergency lights flashing); Tauch v....
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Thomas v. State, 895 S.E.2d 306 (Ga. 2023).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Nov 7, 2023 | 317 Ga. 700

...e death of another human being irrespective of malice.”). Each count of felony murder was predicated on fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer as alleged in Count 13, which charged felony fleeing or eluding in violation of former OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A). See former OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A) (i)-(iii) (2012) (providing that a driver commits felony fleeing or eluding a police officer if, “while fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer” in violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a), the driver, among other things, “[o]perates his or her vehicle in excess of 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit,” “[s]trikes or collides with another vehicle or a pedestrian,” or “[f]lees in traffic conditions...
...violation of” certain enumerated traffic offenses, including a violation of OCGA § 40-6- 395 (a)). Each first-degree homicide-by-vehicle count was predicated on misdemeanor fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer in violation of OCGA § 40-6-395 (a). See OCGA § 40-6-395 (a) (providing that a “driver of a vehicle” is guilty of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer if he or she “willfully ....
...In 2022, “this subparagraph was redesignated as subsection (c), and additional aggravating factors were included.” Sosebee v. State, 317 Ga. 424, 428 (1) n.6 (893 SE2d 653) (2023); see Ga. L. 2022, p. 100, § 1. 4 § 40-6-395 (b) (1) (2012) (providing that a violation of OCGA § 40-6- 395 (a) is a misdemeanor). On appeal, Appellant contends that “[t]he rule of lenity applies because — as indicted — a single offense has been criminalized by two d...
...first degree under OCGA § 40-6-393 (a) does not.” Id. at 427 (1) (footnote omitted). Elaborating on that point, we explained that homicide by vehicle under OCGA § 40-6-393 (a) “criminalizes causing the death of another person through [a] violation of . . . [OCGA §] 40-6-395 (a),” which “is a misdemeanor,” whereas felony murder predicated on felony fleeing or eluding criminalizes causing the death of another person in the commission of “[f]elony-level fleeing under former OCGA § 40-6-395 (b) (5) (A), which . . . has elements in addition to those required to prove a violation of misdemeanor fleeing under OCGA § 40-6-395 (a).” Id....

McNeely v. State (Ga. 2015).

Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jan 20, 2015 | 317 Ga. 700

...d admitted knowing that violating her parole and probation by shoplifting would send her back to prison. She denied, however, that she encouraged Smith to avoid being pulled over and claimed she told Smith to slow down. 1. Pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a): “It shall be unlawful for any driver 4 of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or...
...Further, “evidence of the defendant’s conduct before and after the crime may give rise to an inference that [s]he participated in the crime.” (Citation omitted.) Id. at 352. This rule is applicable to the crime of fleeing or attempting to elude a police vehicle pursuant to OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)....
...[Cit.]” Browner v. State, 296 Ga. 138, 140-141 (1) (665 SE2d 348) (2014); see also Dixon v. State, 294 Ga. 40 (3) (751 SE2d 69) (2013). Accordingly, the evidence was sufficient to support appellant’s conviction, as a party to the crime, of violating OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)....