Georgia Prisoner Loses Mandamus Appeal Seeking Trial Records
by Ed Lyon
Georgia prisoner James Brock was convicted of several crimes in 2011, two of which were murder. He could have faced a death penalty. Available information did not state his actual sentence(s).
Brock filed a mandamus petition in a lower court to obtain records to support his post-conviction allegations of double jeopardy for being indicted twice for one of his murder convictions. The lower court denied the mandamus petition. Brock appealed to the state Supreme Court.
After a lengthy discourse concerning its jurisdiction in Brock's and similar situations, the Supreme Court ruled that it does have jurisdiction over criminal matters where a death penalty either was, or could have been imposed.
In Brock’s specific situation, however, he filed for mandamus relief in a separate civil action, and because of that, he should have appealed the lower court's denial through a discretionary application process. His appeal was dismissed per curium.
See: Brock v. Hardman, 2018 Ga. LEXIS 353 (2018).
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Related legal case
Brock v. Hardman
| Year | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 2018 Ga. LEXIS 353 |
| Level | State Supreme Court |
