District Attorney Joe Mulholland spoke to the Bainbridge Rotary Club recently about some of the new 2009-10 legislation important to area citizens.
Starting with Senate Bill 13, which Mulholland stated was possibly the most serious of the legislation, deals with the sentence of life without parole. Mulholland said that prior to the passage of the new bill, in order to seek a sentence of life without parole, the death penalty had to be sought. According to Mulholland in some cases "the sentence of life without parole was more appropriate but in order to get that sentence we had to seek the death penalty first."
Mulholland stated that this new legislation is important because of the cost associated with a death penalty conviction and also because about 65% of cases with a death penalty sentences sought ended up being life without parole. Mulholland used the case of the convicted Atlanta Courthouse killer Brian Nichols. He explained that because of the previous legislation, the death penalty conviction had to be sought. Mulholland stated that ended up costing the citizens of Georgia approximately $3 million dollars and Nichols received life without parole.
Senate Bill 82, which went into effect on July 1st of this year, deals with new procedures for metal recyclers and thefts of metal. Mulholland stated that this is especially important to our area as it relates to agriculture. Mulholland stated that prior to the new legislation, stealing the metals was usually a misdemeanor as it dealt with the amount the metal was worth. That meant that even though the cooper taken from a pivot, as example, was only worth about $25 the damage to the equipment and resulting loss of revenue from crop damage wasn't compensated. "The value of the cooper is not determined by how much is received, it is the values of what it costs to replace what was taken," Mulholland explained.
Mulholland also stated that there are new procedures that the recyclers must follower. These requirements include a photo copy of the sellers picture identification, the date and weight of the metal, the license plate number of the vehicle that carried the metal to the recycler, a purchase ticket signed by the seller and all of this must be kept for two years. Also there is no cash payment for 24 hours on cooper, aluminum or catalytic converters.
Mulholland also spoke about the new Georgia 'Super Speeder' law. Anyone driving over 85 mph on a highway or traveling over 75 mph on any two lane road will be subject to an additional $200 speeding fine. He stated that the additional $200 will go directly to supporting Georgia trauma centers, which Mulholland added, are something the state needs more of. It is estimated that the additional fine should bring in approximately $30 million per year for those centers. Mulholland stated that in 2007 there were 1,600 deaths on Georgia highways and over $170 million dollars went uncompensated to facilities that tax payers made up the difference for.
Another issue that Mulholland addressed was the recently overturned conviction of former Bainbridge High School teacher Richard Whitehead. Mulholland stated that the law under which Whitehead was convicted was an old law. The Georgia law prohibits anyone with supervisory control (such as a teacher) over another person from engaging in sexual contact with that person. Mulholland stated that he is currently working with legislatures on a new law one that defines, in clear terms what a school is and also an age.
With the current law, it was possible for a 40 year old college professor to have sexual contact with a 40 year old student and be convicted though Mulholland stated that he didn't know any DA that would think they could convict in a case such as that. He stated that he was committed to helping clarify a new law.
