Former lawyer will be retried for murder after top Georgia court overturns conviction
Criminal Justice
Former lawyer will be retried for murder after top Georgia court overturns conviction
May 6, 2024, 9:26 am CDT
Prosecutors are planning to retry a former Atlanta lawyer after his murder conviction was overturned Tuesday by the Georgia Supreme Court. (Photo from Shutterstock)
Prosecutors are planning to retry a former Atlanta lawyer after his murder conviction was overturned Tuesday by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Bryan Keith Schmitt was convicted in September 2022 for hitting a man with his Mercedes in July 2019. Prosecutors alleged that Schmitt hit Hamid Jahangard in a fit of rage after he threw or bounced a golf ball into the Mercedes.
The Georgia Supreme Court reversed Schmitt’s convictions for malice murder, felony murder based on aggravated assault and aggravated assault.
The state supreme court said the trial court erred by failing to instruct jurors on Schmitt’s defense that the incident was an accident, report the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV.
Schmitt was a senior counsel at software development company Manhattan Associates at the time of the incident.
Schmitt contended that the accident was caused when he tried to make a U-turn to enter a driveway by Jahangard, misjudged the turning radius of his car, and turned his wheel to avoid hitting garbage cans. The front left corner of Schmitt’s car struck Jahangard, Scmitt’s expert testified.
Schmitt left his car to give aid to Jahangard after he struck him. He didn’t leave the scene until police officers allowed him to go home.
The Georgia Supreme Court said the trial judge wrongly told jurors not to consider the possibility of an accident as a key legal principle in the case.
“Although there was certainly evidence supporting the state’s theory that Schmitt acted with malice,” the state supreme court said, “that evidence was disputed and not overwhelming. This is especially so when undisputed evidence showed that Schmitt turned his car away from Jahangard such that only the edge of his car struck Jahangard.”
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