W. Charlton Allen Jr.’s Answers

The official background report for criminal activity is referred to as "GCIC." It is maintained by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). This report shows only state criminal violations and some out of state violations reported by other states. If your arrest was under the local city ordinance, then it will not show up on a GCIG report. However, it is a public record. Many of the independent private reporting search companies will show it when they do a general open records search for...

Both prior answers are on target. It takes very little to rack up 600.00 in fines in Georgia for traffic. One stop, three citations and a CDL and you it right there in one case. Alabama, in my experience, is similar. Get an attorney in Alabama and get it cleared up. Avoiding it only makes you life miserable. I suspect that the money is all they want anyway, and they will likely allow probation.

If you are on probation in Gwinnett County, going on non-reporting for a DUI with only 12 months probation is not likely. The Division 1 State Court judge will not allow it. If not in Gwinnett, it will depend on the general practice of that county. As far as screens on non-reporting probation, you are still subject to the screens. The practical reality is that if you go on non-reporting, the probability is high that probation will not expend the resources for random screens unless you are...

This is not a criminal case, but a Family Law case. Legal aid of Atlanta may be able to assist. They have offices in various counties.

David is correct. In Georgia, sentencing can be run consecutive to other charges or concurrent, at the same time. Since the maximum for voluntary manslaughter is 20 years, there would have to multiple counts involved in the indictment. If found guilty on each count of a multi-count indictment, the judge, depending on the facts of the case and other "aggravators" , can sentence any amount of time for each count as the law allows. He can add them together, or have them served simultaneously....

Yes they will give diversions for some charges. I would recommend that you go to state court in DeKalb and work it out there.

At this point, the only thing you can do legally is raise the issues with the prosecutor. You are now merely a witness and have no control or authority to handle any of these issues with the defendant or his attorney. You also need to be aware that the prosecutor has no obligation to act on the non-restitution portion of your requests if the prosecutor deems it unnecessary to resolve the case.

Deprivation cases vary widely from county to county. I practice in the Juvenile Courts of four counties in the Metro Atlanta area, and each would have a slightly different next step for this general fact pattern. In general, what should happen is that the custody reverts at law to the custodial parent from which the child was taken if the order has actually expired by order or operation of law. However, DFCS can file another complaint, if the order has actually expired, and obtain another...

In Gwinnett County, the only guideline is that of the Assistant District Attorney handling the case, and the types of plea arrangements the judge in that division will accept. There is no "normal plea" in Gwinnett. The initial offer is based on the charge, the facts, the judge's proclivities and the record of the defendant. First Offender has nothing to do with the range or length of the offer from the ADA. Many think that First Offender has an effect on the sentence range, but it does not. It...

After the ticket or citation is docketed with the court, there is no time limit but the normal restraint of the availability of witnesses and the case load of the court. There are some theoretical arguments regarding citations versus accusations etc. but functionally, think timeless. Speedy demands usually do not apply as inferior courts do not usually have court "terms." If you are in DeKalb Recorder's Court, they have special programs for which you may qualify to reduce the allegations....