At the sentencing hearing, Assistant DA David Emadi told the judge that They repeatedly yelled death threats saying they were going to killing all the N-. The majority of police officers visible in the initial birthday-party cellphone video were white. The court first reminded the jury that three offenses were charged in the indictment: aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and a violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. This Court reviews de novo whether the allegations in the indictment are legally sufficient to withstand a general demurrer. See Bryant v. State, 306 Ga. 687, 689 (1), n. 2 (832 SE2d 826) (2019); Christian v. State, 347 Ga. App. . Torres was sentenced on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, one count of terroristic threats and one count of violating the street gang act. The pair had joined a group called Respect the Flag that drunkenly drove around Georgias Douglas and Paulding counties over two days in July 2015. The trial court brought the jury into the courtroom and addressed its questions. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? [3] See Subar v. State, 309 Ga. 805, 809 (2) (848 SE2d 109) (2020) (where indictment was sufficient to survive a general demurrer, trial counsels failure to file such a meritless motion could not be deemed deficient performance); Bradford v. State, 327 Ga. App. Instead, this case was about a group of people riding around our community, drinking alcohol, harassing and intimidating our citizens because of the color of their skin. Fortners statement went on to say that at the childs birthday party, members of Respect The Flag pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at the victims. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. IE 11 is not supported. The children at the party heard and saw much of the altercation. This claim lacks merit. See id. (WXIA), Arrest warrant issued for Jalen Carter for racing in connection to deadly UGA crash, Timeline | Multiple rounds of strong to severe storms possible, Forecast | Shower and storms increase to finish the week, Racist threats outside black child's party lead to prison sentence. /Info 43 0 R . Torres appeals following the denial of his motion for a new trial. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. This claim therefore fails. Aimed to help Insurers prevent, prepare and prevail In adjudicating complex claims, negotiating settlements and winning cases. Norton and Torres were charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic treats and violating the Georgia Street Gang Act. Both wept as the sentences were handed down Monday in Douglas County, west of Atlanta. 149 863 S.E.2d 399. Prosecutors acknowledge that Norton was not one of riders who pointed shotguns at the group, but prosecutors say that she hurled menacing threats while yelling a racial epithet. Want to discuss? WebGet free access to the complete judgment in Torres v. State on CaseMine. Please try again. WebThe Appellate Case Inquiry System contains the register of actions for cases brought before the Kansas Supreme Court and the Kansas Court of Appeals. Law.com Compass includes access to our exclusive industry reports, combining the unmatched expertise of our analyst team with ALMs deep bench of proprietary information to provide insights that cant be found anywhere else. We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying Torress motion for a new trial on this ground. At the time, Douglasville police said in an emailed statement that Officers on scene were given conflicting statements as to what led up to the confrontation. Levi Bush, a Respect The Flag member who drove one of the pickup trucks, initially blamed party-goers for instigating the encounter. Not until the following October, almost three months later, were members of Respect The Flag indicted for their activities in July. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP Is Pleased To Announce Patrick P. Mevs & Daniel W. Milstein Have Become Members Of The Firm. "A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge." AFFIRMED; REMANDED for correction of scrivener's error. Other members of Respect the Flag pleaded guilty and received lesser sentences. A man convicted of terrorizing a child's birthday party with racial slurs is asking a judge for bond. He asserts that (1) the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury, and (2) his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to make a general demurrer to the terroristic threats count in the indictment. BERGER, WALLIS, and EISNAUGLE, JJ., concur. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. All right? There were no objections to the courts decision. Where the jury, after having been charged by the court, returns into court and requests an instruction upon a specific question, it is not error for the judge to confine his instruction to the specific point suggested by the jurys inquiry. Docket Number: A21A1148: Decision Date: C. J., MCFADDEN, P. J., and SENIOR APPELLATE JUDGE PHIPPS . Also we would like the map display." See id. ? Elizabeth Dalia Racine , Sean Garrett , Aimee Fatemeh Sobhani , for Appellee. Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. Two people have been jailed for their role in ruining a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. There were no objections to the court's decision. Jose Ismael TORRES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. They got what they got, she said. Kayla Rae Norton and her partner, Jose Ismael Torres, both wept copiously as Douglas County Judge William McClain passed sentence. (Getty). Torres first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury. (citation and punctuation omitted). They also threatened black shoppers at a convenience store and a Wal-Mart. Pursuant to section 775.087(2)(a)1.p., Florida Statutes (2015), the ten-year minimum mandatory sentence should have been imposed for the crime of possession of a firearm during the commission of a trafficking offense. See id. The court first reminded the jury that three offenses were charged in the indictment: aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and a violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. Contact us. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison and his partner Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years for what a judge described as "actions motivated by racial hatred". A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. Please read our Commenting Policy first. ! The display of the battle flag hadnt disturbed Alford all that much. "Under the first prong of this test, counsel's performance will be found deficient only if it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances and in light of prevailing professional norms." According to the witnesses, a few people yelled fk yall ns and shoot em. When someone from the party said, There are kids here, a person from the convoy yelled, Well shoot those bastards, too., The SPLC also reported that after the party (but long before the grand jury indictments), a Respect The Flag sympathizer posted on Facebook that Trust me the last thing you want is a bunch of pissed off rednecks in jacked up trucks and Confederate flags flying to mess up that pretty lawn. /H [ 831 681 ] 243, 247 (2) (a) (756 SE2d 322) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted). Powered by. 584, 587 (6) (666 SE2d 674) (2008). Torres and Norton were sentenced on one count each of making terroristic threats and violating Georgias street gang act; Torres was also convicted of three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Contact an Account Specialist [emailprotected] | +1-855-808-4530 (Americas) | +44(0) 800 098 86009 (UK & Europe), Perkins Coie Lays Off 58 Business Professionals, Cravath Set for English Law Debut with Shearman Double Partner Hire, Early Reports: 2023 Am Law 200 Financials, Proskauer Lands Cooley Strategy Leader in New C-Suite Role, AI Has Gone Mainstream. (WXIA), More people plead guilty to the crime and are serving lighter sentences. << License our industry-leading legal content to extend your thought leadership and build your brand. As a result, a general demurrer would not have been successful, and Torress counsel did not perform deficiently by failing to pursue a meritless demurrer as to Count 4. /ID [] In Christian, 347 Ga. App. After their release, the two are permanently banned from Douglas County. They caused so much mayhem, McClain said, 911 call centers were flooded with calls. Rebel Flag Fans Face Gang Charge for Crashing Black Kids Party, Confederate flag group charged with terroristic threats. Our Compliance bundles are curated by CLE Counselors and include current legal topics and challenges within the industry. ", Count 4 of Torres's indictment alleged the essential elements of the offense, tracked the language of the terroristic threats statute, and sufficiently placed Torres on notice of the crime with which he was charged and against which he was required to defend. They repeatedly yelled death threats saying they were going to killing all the n, Assistant District Attorney David Emadi said in court. Although OCGA 16-11-37 was revised effective May 3, 2016, see Ga. L. 2016, p. 793, 2, in general, a crime is to be construed and punished according to the provisions of the law existing at the time of its commission. Widner v. State, 280 Ga. 675, 677 (2) (631 SE2d 675) (2006) (citation and punctuation omitted). A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 0000006358 00000 n Henry P. Taylor/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, 'Empire' Star Jussie Smollett Sentenced to 150 Days in County Jail for Staging Hate Crime, Lying to Authorities, Jussie Smollett to Be Released from Jail on Bond Pending His Appeal, Court Orders, Racism Led 3 White Men to Chase and Kill Ahmaud Arbery, a Black Jogger in Georgia, Jury Finds, No Prison Time for Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Fatal Drug Error, Michelle Carter Case: The 'Texting-Suicide' Case Five Years After Sentencing, Hayden Panettiere and On-Off Boyfriend Brian Hickerson Involved in Fight Outside of L.A. Bar, Illinois Judge Reverses Man's Rape Conviction, Citing 5 Months in Jail as 'Plenty of Punishment', Hayden Panettiere 'Okay' After Involvement in Physical Fight Outside L.A. Bar, Says Her Rep, All 3 Defendants Found Guilty of Murdering Ahmaud Arbery, Black Jogger Chased Down and Shot in Georgia, How a Film Producer Uncovered the Truth About an Innocent Man Convicted of Raping'Lovely Bones'Author, Kyle Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty of All Charges in Fatal Shooting of 2 Men At Black Lives Matter Protest, Man Arrested After Hurling Racial Slurs at African-American TV Reporter: 'What Did You Just Call Me? I think the tears were mainly because they got caught, Alford said. The two were found guilty in February of street-gang terrorism for their roles in the pickup truck convoy, and on Monday McClain threw the book at them. She said she could see he was scared on Monday, but she also remembered his rage on that summer day nearly two years ago. Addressing several of the victims who had come to court to witness the sentencing, Norton expressed remorse, saying: I do accept responsibility for what Ive done. Torres's counsel stated: Torres argues on appeal that the jurors' note requested a complete recharge of all the jury instructions and not simply a recharge of the definitions of the offenses. Jose Ismael TORRES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. She said she grew up seeing it all over the Alabama town where she was raised. A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge. Dozier v. State, 306 Ga. 29, 32 (3) (829 SE2d 131) (2019) (citation and punctuation omitted). Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton Douglas County Sheriff's Office The Georgia group called itself Respect the Flag, and prior to the attack was seen driving in a at 394(2), 819 S.E.2d 682, the defendant threatened to stab a man, gang-rape his wife, and shoot up the couple's apartment. The other two pleaded guilty and are serving shorter prison terms. "The necessity, extent, and character of any supplemental instructions to the jury are matters within the discretion of the trial court and appellate review is limited to determining whether that discretion was abused." Two years ago, Jose Ismael Torres was sentenced to 20 years in prison. See Hulett v. State, 296 Ga. 49, 60 (5) (766 SE2d 1) (2014) (an ineffectiveassistance claim is a mixed question of law and fact, and we accept the trial courts factual findings unless clearly erroneous and independently apply the law to those facts); see also Strickland v. Washington, 466 U. S. 668, 698 (IV) (104 SCt 2052, 80 LE2d 674) (1984). On Monday morning, judge William McClain sentenced Torres to 20 years in jail, with a mandatory minimum of 13 years. 0000013636 00000 n WebB2 dailybusinessreview.com TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2023 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW BROWARD U.S. DISTRICT 23-cv-80259-RLR, Chanel, Inc. v. Eye of the Needle Palm 0000005931 00000 n WebIn the Court of Appeals of Georgia A21A1148. Prosecutors said that the group threatened black motorists and walked up to one of their cars with a gun. In other words, if an accused would be guilty of the crime charged if the facts as alleged in the indictment are taken as true, then the indictment is sufficient to withstand a general demurrer; however, if an accused can admit to all of the facts charged in the indictment and still be innocent of a crime, the indictment is insufficient and is subject to a general demurrer. Case No. 210, 213(2), 699 S.E.2d 392 (2010) (indictment survived general demurrer because it both tracked the language of the statute and described the acts constituting the offense sufficiently to put the defendant on notice of the offense with which he was charged). He said it had been his intent to kill black people and start a race war. 565, 569 (1) (b) (845 SE2d 305) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). Gain access to some of the most knowledgeable and experienced attorneys with our 2 bundle options! Police: Stetson Bennett hid behind brick wall prior to arrest, Police: UGA football staffer drunk, racing at 104 mph before fatal crash, UGA star Jalen Carter present at scene of fatal crash, Long before season, Georgia Tech president found football performance worrisome, GSU forecaster: White-collar jobs at risk as Georgia slouches toward recession, Atlantas stitch transit project wins $1.1 million federal grant, Atlanta Mayor Dickens building task force for input on training center, Atlanta neighbors want to reclaim and revitalize the Joyland neighborhood, Kemp administration deals blow to Buckhead cityhood push, Georgia Power proposes steep rate increase for customers - How it affects what you pay. 621, 627(2), 760 S.E.2d 630 (2014) (counsel's performance cannot be deemed deficient for failing to file a general demurrer that would have been unsuccessful). The record here shows that while the jury was deliberating, the jurors sent the following note to the trial court: Your Honor, We would like the definitions of the charges (18 pg document)[.] Join Daily Report now! Davis v. State, 306 Ga. 140, 144 (3) (829 SE2d 321) (2019). Poole v. State, 326 Ga.App. But the Douglasville Police Department eventually built the case for prosecution, Fortner said. Torres and Norton were found guilty of yelling racial slurs and threatening to kill partygoers, even the kids. Here, Count 4 alleged that Torres threaten[ed] to shoot the victims attending the party. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, and Kayla Rae Norton, 25, were part of a group of 15 people who disrupted the 8-year-olds party in Douglasville in July 2015, less than a month after white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans at a
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