State v. Clark
| Decision Date | 06 July 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 45628,45628 |
| Citation | 369 S.E.2d 900,258 Ga. 464 |
| Parties | STATE v. CLARK, Jr. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Spencer Lawton, Jr., Dist. Atty., David T. Lock, Asst. Dist. Atty., Savannah, for the State.
G. Terry Jackson, Michael G. Schiavone, Savannah, for Furman O. Clark, Jr.
We granted the state's petition for a writ of certiorari in Clark v. State, 186 Ga.App. 106, 366 S.E.2d 361 (1988). We affirm.
The appellee pled guilty to the charge of voluntary manslaughter and received a twenty year sentence. During the sentencing hearing, the trial court allowed the district attorney to ask the appellee's character witness certain questions over the objection of appellee's counsel. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial on the issue of punishment.
The purpose of this opinion is to delineate the boundaries that must be observed by district attorneys when cross-examining a defendant's character witness. A district attorney must be able to show that the questions posed to the defendant's character witness were asked in good faith and based on reliable information that can be supported by admissible evidence.
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except HUNT, J., not participating.
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State v. Charping
...to the prosecutor's questions about the non-noticed offenses. The prosecutor, in violation of the rule established in State v. Clark, 258 Ga. 464, 369 S.E.2d 900 (1988), had asked the questions without demonstrating that they were asked in good faith and were based on reliable information t......
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Watson v. State
...were asked in good faith and based upon reliable information and admissible evidence. Id. at 247, 430 S.E.2d 754; State v. Clark, 258 Ga. 464, 369 S.E.2d 900 (1988). 10. In an attempt to show that a third person murdered Beverley, Watson proferred the testimony of James Odom. Odom averred t......
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...OCGA § 17-10-2 was not applicable. Clark v. State, 186 Ga.App. 106, 110(6), 366 S.E.2d 361 (1988); affirmed in Clark v. State, 258 Ga. 464, 369 S.E.2d 900 (1988). (b) The state argues that this was rebuttal evidence admissible without specific prior notice that it would be offered in aggrav......
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Strickland v. State
...the way in which it could prove these bad acts outside the presence of the jury. Thus, the questioning was proper. See State v. Clark, 258 Ga. 464, 369 S.E.2d 900 (1988). To each question, the witness replied he was unaware of the acts and that they would not change his opinion. No other ev......