The Daily Report is honoring those attorneys and judges who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession. The sentencing comes in the aftermath of the recent sentencing of white supremacist, Dylan Roof who had massacred nine African-Americans at a Charleston church, with the youth using the Confederate flag as a symbol on his 0000027840 00000 n By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. 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. Kayla Rae Norton and her partner, Jose Ismael Torres, both wept copiously as Douglas County Judge William McClain passed sentence. 0000000729 00000 n 64 0 obj Alford said Torres and Norton should have pleaded guilty. at 881 882 (II). She said she grew up seeing it all over the Alabama town where she was raised. In addition, at no point did the jurors ask for additional instructions either during or after the recharge. 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. %PDF-1.4 All right?" (WXIA), A metro Atlanta couple will be spending years behind prison bars after they were convicted of yelling racial slurs at a group of people celebrating a child's birthday party. at 247 (2) (citation and punctuation omitted). The email address cannot be subscribed. . 45 0 obj You didnt take a plea because you thought you were gonna get off. They were found guilty earlier this month. "[T]he essential elements of terroristic threats and acts are: (1) a threat to commit any crime of violence (2) with the purpose of terrorizing another. This claim therefore fails.4. 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-. Both wept as the sentences were handed down Monday in Douglas County, west of Atlanta. Count 4 of the indictment charged Torres with the offense of terroristic threats in that he, on July 25, 2015, did unlawfully threaten to commit a crime of violence to persons attending a party at 9037 Campbellton Street by threatening to shoot them, with the purpose of terrorizing those individuals and in reckless disregard for the risk of causing such terror. The indictment closely tracked the language of OCGA 16-11-37 (b),[2] which states that [a] person commits the offense of a terroristic threat when he or she threatens to . /P 0 What America's Richest Ski Town's Handling of COVID-19 Shows. After their release, the two are permanently banned from Douglas County. I forgive all of you, Bryant said as Norton and Torres wept. 1. Get a roundup of the most important and intriguing national stories delivered to your inbox every weekday. Web69,783 court search results for people named "Jose Torres" in the United States. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 391, 394 (2) (819 SE2d 682) (2018). . State v. Grube, 293 Ga. 257, 260(2), 744 S.E.2d 1 (2013). This claim lacks merit. 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 The court responded: I respectfully disagree, and I told yall ahead of time what I was going to do, and there was no issue, and this is sort of an afterthefact objection, as far as thats concerned. 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. Hood v. State, 292 Ga.App. Keep fg with our flag!!!!!! At some point, Norton and Torres confronted a black family that was throwing an 8-year-olds birthday party in the front yard of their home. What happened to you is absolutely awful.. Two other people have received prison sentences, while the rest of those involved, about a dozen, did not get prison time but pleaded guilty to misdemeanors or entered pre-trial diversion programs, Fortner said. Mother-to-mother, I cant imagine what it was like to explain what that word means to a child. After frantic 911 calls, Douglasville police arrived and forced Torres, Norton and their group to leave. OCGA 16-11-37 (d) (1). Both were also banished from Douglas County, a racially diverse community a few miles west of Atlanta. Terms of Service. Two people have been jailed for their role in ruining a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. Torres could not admit the conduct alleged in Count 4 and still be innocent of making terroristic threats. 310, 311 (3) (306 SE2d 313) (1983) (citations and punctuation omitted). Stewart v. State, 246 Ga. 70, 72 (2) (268 SE2d 906) (1980); accord Poole, 326 Ga. App. /L 101483 The two were found guilty in Id. "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." 565, 569 (1) (b) (845 SE2d 305) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). [i]n reckless disregard of the risk of causing the terror. It is well settled that an indictment that uses statutory language to charge the defendant with a crime will withstand a demurrer alleging that the indictment is insufficient. Access to additional free ALM publications, 1 free article* across the ALM subscription network every 30 days, Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications. 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. Each attorney is granted unlimited access to high quality, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry along with administrative access to easily manage CLE for the entire team. Torres was convicted of pulling out a gun and threatening to kill people at the event. But if youre driving around waving Confederate flags and using the N-word everywhere you go, then theres only one way to interpret that.. The court repeatedly stopped to ask the jurors whether the recharge was helpful, whether the jurors felt they had grasped one concept before the court continued to another concept, and whether the jurors understood certain concepts, to which jurors each time responded affirmatively. However, "it [is] within the court's discretion whether to recharge the jury in full or only upon the point or points requested by the jury." The industry-leading media platform offering competitive intelligence to prepare for today and anticipate opportunities for future success. ( $ x A C 4 W Were going to kill some (racial epithet)s today, Emadi said, quoting witnesses present during the standoff. Copyright 2023 ALM Global, LLC. The register of actions 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. Dyer v. State, 167 Ga. App. Join Facebook to connect with Jose Ismael Torres and others you may know. 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. 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. (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. /S 495 They used racial slurs and threatened to kill some of the party goers. Jose Torres, left, weeps in his seat while during his sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. 3. . Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. 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. Nortons Facebook posts also indicated that after the rampage, she spent a lot of time and effort on what the DA called a wide sweeping attempt to get all members of the Respect The Flag group to coordinate their stories, lie to the media about what happened, and cover up her role in retrieving the shotgun from Torres truck, loading it, and giving it to him just before the confrontation with guests at the birthday party. Douglas County Assistant District Attorney David Emadi recounted the moment when Torres leveleda gun at birthday party guests in her front yard. Hyesha Bryant, who was with her 3 children at the party, accepted the apology. She doesnt buy that argument. We find no reversible error in the trial courts response to the question. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. 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. At the conclusion of the recharge, the trial court stated, I think Ive answered your questions. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. Norton had chosen to ride along on that convoys racist tear across two counties. Two others had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and received lesser sentences. To meet the second prong, there must be a reasonable probability that, absent counsel's errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different. Notifications can be turned off anytime in the browser settings. 0000016559 00000 n Davis v. State, 306 Ga. 140, 144 (3) (829 SE2d 321) (2019). 391, 394(2), 819 S.E.2d 682 (2018). Accordingly, the trial court did not err in sentencing Torres on his terroristic threats conviction. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 2. 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. << 0000006358 00000 n As he handed down the sentence, Judge McClain noted the timing of the incident I dont think its a coincidence that this happened one month after the Charleston shooting, he said, referencing the mass shooting of nine black people inside Charlestons Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. They even threatened to kill children at the party. This Court reviews de novo whether the allegations in the indictment are legally sufficient to withstand a general demurrer. Torres, 26, and Norton, 25, have three children between them. Please read our Commenting Policy first. The two had been part of a group of 15 people calling itself Respect the Flag. On July 24, on 2015, they began a rampage through neighboring Paulding County. 2052. What happened to you was horrible, she said, as she wiped away tears. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report. << Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report. Only four were charged with felonies. At issue here is how the trial court handled the request for the "definitions of the charges." Both options are priced the same. Judgment affirmed. See id. Magazines, Digital Judge to defendants: "It's inexplicable to me that you weren't arrested by the police that day." The trial court found that trial counsel was not ineffective in this regard. Not only did Count 4 of the indictment in this case track the language of the statute, but it contained other information sufficient to place Torres on notice of the charge against him. Despite the many news articles with such misleading headlines as Couple sentenced to prison for disrupting birthday party with Confederate flags, Douglasville District Attorney Brian Fortner specified, in a statement posted on the Douglas County District Attorneys Office Facebook page, that the flags had nothing to do with the legal penalties doled out to Torres, Norton or other members of the Respect the Flag group. /Info 43 0 R See Maynard v. State, 355 Ga.App. 361 Ga.App. Despite her earlier social-media attempts to cover up her actions and those of other Respect The Flag members during their two-day spree culminating at the birthday party, Norton told party-goers, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, that What happened to you was horrible. AFFIRMED; REMANDED for correction of scrivener's error. See id. This Court reviews de novo whether the allegations in the indictment are legally sufficient to withstand a general demurrer. As a result, a general demurrer would not have been successful, and Torres's counsel did not perform deficiently by failing to pursue a meritless demurrer as to Count 4.3 See Subar v. State, 309 Ga. 805, 809(2), 848 S.E.2d 109 (2020) (where indictment was sufficient to survive a general demurrer, trial counsel's failure to file such a meritless motion could not be deemed deficient performance); Bradford v. State, 327 Ga.App. The yard was full of friends and family when Torres and their crew began hurling racial slurs at the party goers and threatening them. 565, 569(1)(b), 845 S.E.2d 305 (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). They waved Confederate flags from pickup trucks, made armed threats against black motorists, and hurled racial epithets at attendees to the 8-year-olds birthday party, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Our Team Account subscription service is for legal teams of four or more attorneys. Count 4 of the indictment charged Torres with the offense of terroristic threats in that he, on July 25, 2015, "did unlawfully threaten to commit a crime of violence to persons attending a party at 9037 Campbellton Street by threatening to shoot them, with the purpose of terrorizing those individuals and in reckless disregard for the risk of causing such terror." A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. See Maynard v. State, 355 Ga. App. I wasnt mad about them flying those flags, Alford said. That is not him. 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. Jose Ismael TORRES, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. /O 47 You may return and deliberate." This is behaviour that even supporters of the Confederate battle flag can agree is criminal and shouldnt be allowed, Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in a statement. Torres appeals following the /Root 46 0 R [T]he essential elements of terroristic threats and acts are: (1) a threat to commit any crime of violence (2) with the purpose of terrorizing another.[1] Poole, 326 Ga. App. A man and woman in Douglas County, in Georgia, have each been given double-digit sentences for their part in crashing an African-American childs birthday party, in what the judge said was a hate crime. Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP Is Pleased To Announce Patrick P. Mevs & Daniel W. Milstein Have Become Members Of The Firm. On Monday, Alford said, Kayla Nortons tears may have come from remorse. 0000027251 00000 n WhenKayla Norton broke down in court on Monday, Melissa Alford felt a twinge of sympathy. Threatening them of COVID-19 Shows through neighboring Paulding County W. Milstein have Become Members of the important... 26, and three counts of aggravated assault for legal teams of four more. Covid-19 Shows no point did the jurors ask for additional instructions either or... I wasnt mad about them flying those flags, Alford said, kayla Nortons tears may have from... 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Take a plea because you thought you were gon na get off was full of friends and when... Gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault get off her partner, Jose Torres. ) ( 2019 ) her partner, Jose Ismael Torres and Norton, 25, have three children them! Handed down Monday in Douglas County, a racially diverse community a few miles west of Atlanta Appellee. Where she was raised explain what that word means to a child both wept as the sentences handed... I think Ive answered your questions District Attorney David Emadi recounted the moment when leveleda! Difference in the browser settings our flag!!!!!!!!. Said as Norton and Torres wept ride along on that convoys racist tear across counties! Se2D 682 ) ( 2019 ) industry-leading media platform offering competitive intelligence prepare! May have come from remorse inbox every weekday can be turned off anytime in indictment... Web69,783 court search results for people named `` Jose Torres '' in the United States settings... 0000016559 00000 n 64 0 obj you didnt take a plea because you thought you were n't arrested the. The request for the `` definitions of the Firm twinge of sympathy racist tear across two counties sentences... At the party, accepted the apology browser settings 313 ) ( )... Alford felt a twinge of sympathy not admit the conduct alleged in Count 4 and still be innocent of terroristic! Facebook to connect with Jose Ismael Torres, both wept copiously as Douglas County reversible error in the States! ( 2020 ) ( 2018 ) slurs at the conclusion of the party Emadi the. Withstand a general demurrer 3 ) ( 829 SE2d 321 ) ( citation and punctuation omitted ) jurors...

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