jose ismael torres appeal

Isnt it time we heard from UGAs Kirby Smart? During the course of what authorities called a drunken rampage which inspired a flurry of 911 calls from witnesses along their route, the group shouted racist epithets and pointed guns at black drivers, and harassed black customers at a Paulding County Wal-Mart and a nearby convenience store. Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. On Monday morning, judge William McClain sentenced Torres to 20 years in jail, with a mandatory minimum of 13 years. Norton, the mother of three children younger than 9, was facing so much prison time that her children would be different people when their mother got out. Here, Count 4 alleged that Torres threaten[ed] to shoot the victims attending the party. Well kill all the little (racial epithet)s.. The jurors did not request additional charges or state that they needed any additional information. Norton was sentenced on one count of violating Georgias street gang act and one count of making terroristic threats. 0000006358 00000 n /Prev 100447 Only four were charged with felonies. I will simply not tolerate this type of behavior in our community.. Web69,783 court search results for people named "Jose Torres" in the United States. Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton during their July 2015 antagonizing of black Douglas County locals. Torres could not admit the conduct alleged in Count 4 and still be innocent of making terroristic threats. . A man convicted of terrorizing a child's birthday party with racial slurs is asking a judge for bond. But then Alford thought of the reasons Norton was in court: the convoy of pickup trucks with Confederate flags, the vile racist epithets, the loaded shotgun leveled on her friends and family, the threats to blow childrens heads off. Write to Joseph Hincks at joseph.hincks@time.com. Two years ago, Jose Ismael Torres was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Jon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York. See id. /O 47 Id. /Pages 42 0 R xref See Bautista v. State, 305 Ga.App. In other words, if an accused would be guilty of the crime charged if the facts as alleged in the indictment are taken as true, then the indictment is sufficient to withstand a general demurrer; however, if an accused can admit to all of the facts charged in the indictment and still be innocent of a crime, the indictment is insufficient and is subject to a general demurrer. 565, 569(1)(b), 845 S.E.2d 305 (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). About Us| Advertisement. (citation and punctuation omitted). << /Type /Catalog All Rights Reserved. When Will South Carolina Take Down the Confederate Flag? 0000000729 00000 n Aimed to help Insurers prevent, prepare and prevail In adjudicating complex claims, negotiating settlements and winning cases. The trip ended at the Douglasville home of Melissa Alford, who was hosting an outdoor birthday party for her black 8-year-old grandson. 0-5 year associate attorney needed for a civil litigation firm in the Buckheadarea. What America's Richest Ski Town's Handling of COVID-19 Shows. We conclude that the terroristic threats count in this case was not fatally defective for failing to specify the names of the victims. 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. Kayla Rae Norton, 25, and Jose Ismael Torres, 26, were convicted this month of violating the state's street-gang terrorism law and have been held without bond as they await sentencing. There is no hate crime law; Torres and Kayla Norton were convicted under the Street Gang Terrorism Act. Law.com Compass delivers you the full scope of information, from the rankings of the Am Law 200 and NLJ 500 to intricate details and comparisons of firms financials, staffing, clients, news and events. As he sentenced the duo, judge McClain castigated them for their behavior. Mother-to-mother, I cant imagine what it was like to explain what that word means to a child. According to court testimony, Kayla Rae Norton, 25, and Jose Ismael Torres, 26, were acting as part of a group that called themselves Respect the Flag. On July 24 and 25, 2015, the group rode through Douglaston, Georgia, in pickup trucks that were flying American, military and Confederate flags. 243, 247 (2) (a) (756 SE2d 322) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted). Stokes v. State, 355 Ga. App. Victims look on as the sentences are read. 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. The trial court recharged those definitions and repeatedly ensured that the jurors understood the recharge. [w]ith the purpose of terrorizing another[,] or . At the conclusion of the recharge, the trial court stated, "I think I've answered your questions. "A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge." Tell the AJC: How do you experience race in Georgia? PHIPPS, Senior Appellate Judge. 0000001512 00000 n But on the day Judge McClain passed sentence on Torres and Norton, he openly questioned why the Douglasville PD did not arrest any members of Respect The Flag at the birthday party, calling their inaction inexplicable and a very bad mistake. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that McClain told the couple that he didnt understand Why you werent arrested that day but [were] allowed to drive off in the protection of the authorities.. The court then stated: "I'm going to slowly and carefully define those offenses for you." Elizabeth Dalia Racine , Sean Garrett , Aimee Fatemeh Sobhani , for Appellee. Torres first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury. at 394(2), 819 S.E.2d 682, the defendant threatened to stab a man, gang-rape his wife, and shoot up the couple's apartment. See id. I forgive you. 1. A man convicted of terrorizing a child's birthday party with racial slurs is asking a judge for bond. Making a lesser penalty applicable to offenses committed prior to the enactment of the legislation creating the lesser penalty is contrary to the judicial interpretation of the laws of this State under which the penalty for a criminal offense relates only to those offenses committed when and after such legislation becomes effective. At least two witnesses to the confrontation recorded the incident on their cellphone cameras and posted the footage online. A man and woman were sentenced to 13 and six years in prison for joining a group of Confederate flag supporters who threatened a Georgia community. They used racial slurs and threatened to kill some of the party goers. "[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. . The statute at that time contained no misdemeanor provisions. 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-. Example video title will go here for this video. Hood v. State, 292 Ga.App. Two years ago, Jose Ismael Torres was sentenced to 20 years in prison. District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District. Alford, 46, and other victims sat in the jury box on Monday through much of the sentencing hearing. 584, 587(6), 666 S.E.2d 674 (2008). Not until the following October, almost three months later, were members of Respect The Flag indicted for their activities in July. Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards honors women lawyers who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession. OCGA 16-11-37 (d) (1). A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. Widner, 280 Ga. at 677 (2) (citation and punctuation omitted). Douglasvilles population is 35 percent white and almost 60 percent black. See Maynard v. State, 355 Ga.App. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. 0000027251 00000 n Manner v. State, 302 Ga. 877, 881(II), 808 S.E.2d 681 (2017). They got what they got, she said. WebView the profiles of people named Jose Ismael Torres. << endobj [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. Alford said Torres and Norton should have pleaded guilty. 0000004985 00000 n The constitutional purpose for identifying the victim is to apprise the defendant of the charges against him. Pick up PEOPLEs special edition True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, on sale now, for the latest on Casey Anthony, JonBent Ramsey and more. Terms of Service. At issue here is how the trial court handled the request for the "definitions of the charges." Id. 0000013636 00000 n 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. Although the jurors note contained a parenthetical reference to the 18-page document that comprised all jury instructions, the note specifically requested the definitions of the charges. The trial court recharged those definitions and repeatedly ensured that the jurors understood the recharge. /T 100459 Here, Count 4 alleged that Torres "threaten[ed] to shoot" the victims attending the party. 210, 213 (2) (699 SE2d 392) (2010) (indictment survived general demurrer because it both tracked the language of the statute and described the acts constituting the offense sufficiently to put the defendant on notice of the offense with which he was charged). Powered by. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. at 248 (2) (a) (an indictment charging terroristic threats without specifying the crime of violence that had been threatened tracked the language of the statute and was not fatally defective). So, why you crying now?. The bond hearing is set for Monday morning. Torres appeals following the We conclude that the terroristic threats count in this case was not fatally defective for failing to specify the names of the victims. Norton and Torres were charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic treats and violating the Georgia Street Gang Act. However, it [is] within the courts discretion whether to recharge the jury in full or only upon the point or points requested by the jury. Barnes v. State, 305 Ga. 18, 23 (3) (823 SE2d 302) (2019) (citation and punctuation omitted). 5D164395 Decided: February 02, 2018 Torres appeals following the denial of his motion for a new trial. Stokes v. State, 355 Ga.App. WebThe Appellate Case Inquiry System contains the register of actions for cases brought before the Kansas Supreme Court and the Kansas Court of Appeals. That is not him. /Info 43 0 R Customer Service| First of all, at the time Torres committed the offenses in July 2015, OCGA 16-11-37(c) provided: "A person convicted of the offense of a terroristic threat shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years, or both." The statute at that time contained no misdemeanor provisions. I wasnt mad about them flying those flags, Alford said. That is not me. The pair had joined a group called Respect the Flag that drunkenly drove around Georgias Douglas and Paulding counties over two days in July 2015. Other members of Respect the Flag pleaded guilty and received lesser sentences. Judgment affirmed. Case No. << Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, Georgia Pair Sentenced to Prison for Perpetrating Hate Crime at Black Child's Birthday Party. The yard was full of friends and family when Torres and their crew began hurling racial slurs at the party goers and threatening them. Torres next asserts that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to file a general demurrer to the terroristic threats count of his indictment. 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. After Torres and Nortons sentencing, Douglasville police defended their delayed response in a statement saying that Because of the seriousness of this case to our community, we wanted to get this case right the first time. 0000023139 00000 n Torres must satisfy both prongs of the Strickland test, and if he is unable to satisfy one, we need not examine the other. She is a two-time James Beard Award finalist and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. 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. /Metadata 44 0 R Widner v. State, 280 Ga. 675, 677(2), 631 S.E.2d 675 (2006) (citation and punctuation omitted). What happened to you is absolutely awful.. Torres appeals following the denial of his motion for a new trial. 0000026062 00000 n Kayla Rae Norton and her partner, Jose Ismael Torres, both wept copiously as Douglas County Judge William McClain passed sentence. 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. Torres first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury. [3] See Subar v. State, 309 Ga. 805, 809 (2) (848 SE2d 109) (2020) (where indictment was sufficient to survive a general demurrer, trial counsels failure to file such a meritless motion could not be deemed deficient performance); Bradford v. State, 327 Ga. App. Torres's counsel stated: Torres argues on appeal that the jurors' note requested a complete recharge of all the jury instructions and not simply a recharge of the definitions of the offenses. Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in an interview that the prosecution of the attack began with people with less serious involvement, and moved in toward those who drove it. Mother-to-mother, I cant imagine what it was like to explain what that word means to a child. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case. If you drive around town with a Confederate flag, yelling the N-word, you know how its going to be interpreted, he said. Phipps, Senior Appellate Judge. 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. 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