In addition, at no point did the jurors ask for additional instructions either during or after the recharge. Our Compliance bundles are curated by CLE Counselors and include current legal topics and challenges within the industry. Local police came under fire on the day of the attack for choosing not to arrest any of the aggressors. Case No. A judge sentenced two people to lengthy prison terms on Monday for disrupting an 8-year-old black girls birthday party in 2015 by using racial slurs, showing the Confederate flag and making armed threats. This Court reviews de novo whether the allegations in the indictment are legally sufficient to withstand a general demurrer. Please try again. Two others, Thomas Charles Summers and Lacey Paul Henderson II, had pleaded guilty to terroristic threat and battery charges prior to Monday. 2. 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. If that trigger would have gone off there would have been dead bodies all over that yard, Alford said. 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. Id. But Alford wasnt so sure. Here, the jury asked for a charge upon a specific point [- the definitions of the offenses -] and the jury was charged upon that point. Id. Court of Appeals of Georgia.https://leagle.com/images/logo.png. (WXIA), More people plead guilty to the crime and are serving lighter sentences. Here, "the jury asked for a charge upon a specific point [ the definitions of the offenses ] and the jury was charged upon that point." . Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton during their July 2015 antagonizing of black Douglas County locals. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report. Torres also claims in a one-paragraph argument that his five-year sentence on the terroristic threats count is void because Count 4 only charged a misdemeanor, not a felony. Jose Ismael Torres was arrested Monday by Altamonte Springs police in a Volusia County hotel room. /Root 46 0 R The video posted above showed police officers holding back the mostly black party guests while the parade of Confederate flag trucks drove past. It was when they pulled them guns and said Im gonna shoot the little bastards.. Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided. She doesnt buy that argument. 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. "A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge." at 247(2), 756 S.E.2d 322 (citation and punctuation omitted). 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. News Ask a Lawyer Question: Add details 120 Ask Question Find a Lawyer trailer at 881-882(II), 808 S.E.2d 681. The trial court brought the jury into the courtroom and addressed its questions. The investigation included a review of thousands of Facebook pages that identified members of the Respect the Flag as white supremacists who discussed attending Ku Klux Klan rallies, joining a skinhead group and made derogatory remarks about black people, Fortner said. Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. It is within the courts discretion to recharge the jury in full or only upon the point or points requested. 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. 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 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. Two others had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and received lesser sentences. You gamble, you win or you lose.. 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Torres and Norton have three children together, although they are not married. Judge to defendants: "It's inexplicable to me that you weren't arrested by the police that day." We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying Torress motion for a new trial on this ground. << 361 Ga.App. Torres must satisfy both prongs of the Strickland test, and if he is unable to satisfy one, we need not examine the other. >> Gain access to some of the most knowledgeable and experienced attorneys with our 2 bundle options! Prosecutors said that the group threatened black motorists and walked up to one of their cars with a gun. 0000016559 00000 n She was even used to hearing the type of slurs hurled at her and her guests. Your Real Estate Legal and Brokerage Expert. Customer Service| You may return and deliberate." at 247 (2) (citation and punctuation omitted). Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. They even threatened to kill children at the party. Mother-to-mother, I cant imagine what it was like to explain what that word means to a child. at 248(2)(a), 756 S.E.2d 322 (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). Although OCGA 16-11-37 was revised effective May 3, 2016, see Ga. L. 2016, p. 793, 2, in general, a crime is to be construed and punished according to the provisions of the law existing at the time of its commission. Widner v. State, 280 Ga. 675, 677 (2) (631 SE2d 675) (2006) (citation and punctuation omitted). Heres what you need to know about Torres, Norton and the results of their recent trial: Kayla Norton (credit: Douglas County DA Facebook page). Several of them were brandishing guns. Well blow the head off the little bastards. He called their actions a hate crime and sentenced Torres to 20 years, with 13 to serve, and Norton to 13 years, six to serve. 149 863 S.E.2d 399. 565, 569(1)(b), 845 S.E.2d 305 (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). (citation and punctuation omitted). Superior Court Judge William McClain sentenced Torres and Kayla Rae Norton, right, to lengthy prison terms Monday for their role in the disruption of a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. EpiPens dont work in space? Widner, 280 Ga. at 677(2), 631 S.E.2d 675 (citation and punctuation omitted). Despite the multiple 911 calls inspired by Respect The Flags actions, when Douglasville police arrived at the childs birthday party they did not make any arrests. 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. See Maynard v. State, 355 Ga.App. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, and Kayla Rae Norton, 25, were part of a group of 15 people who disrupted the 8-year-olds party in Douglasville in July 2015, less than a month after white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans at a Jose Torres, left, weeps in his seat while during his sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. 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. Torres first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury. 243, 247 (2) (a) (756 SE2d 322) (2014) (citation and punctuation omitted). 5 = / q n k p k M. A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge. Dozier v. State, 306 Ga. 29, 32 (3) (829 SE2d 131) (2019) (citation and punctuation omitted). 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 disruption of the birthday party took place less than a month after white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine African-Americans at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina. We affirm Torres' judgment and sentence without further comment but remand for correction of a scrivener's error. . An indictment shall be deemed sufficiently technical and correct to withstand a general demurrer if it states the offense in the terms and language of [the Georgia] Code or so plainly that the nature of the offense charged may easily be understood by the jury. I accept responsibility for what I did, but that was not me. WSB-TVs coverage also quoted Norton as saying, The worst decision Ive ever made in my life was to not walk away when I had the chance. Addressing several of the victims who had come to court to witness the sentencing, Norton expressed remorse, saying: I do accept responsibility for what Ive done. Click on the case name to see the full text of the citing case. What America's Richest Ski Town's Handling of COVID-19 Shows. I forgive you. >> At the time, Douglasville police said in an emailed statement that Officers on scene were given conflicting statements as to what led up to the confrontation. Levi Bush, a Respect The Flag member who drove one of the pickup trucks, initially blamed party-goers for instigating the encounter. /Metadata 44 0 R 621, 627 (2) (760 SE2d 630) (2014) (counsels performance cannot be deemed deficient for failing to file a general demurrer that would have been unsuccessful). Would love your thoughts, please comment. According to trial counsel, he did not believe that a general demurrer would be meritorious because the defense knew what [they] were dealing with and knew who those specific people were. Count 4 of Torress indictment alleged the essential elements of the offense, tracked the language of the terroristic threats statute, and sufficiently placed Torres on notice of the crime with which he was charged and against which he was required to defend. The trial court found that trial counsel was not ineffective in this regard. 0000004744 00000 n The Daily Report is honoring those attorneys and judges who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession. They repeatedly yelled death threats saying they were going to killing all the n, Assistant District Attorney David Emadi said in court. Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards honors women lawyers who have made a remarkable difference in the legal profession. Victims look on as the sentences are read. The incident came just days after a massacre at a Charleston church, where nine African-Americans were killed. Both options are priced the same. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 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. Two years ago, Jose Ismael Torres was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 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). Join Facebook to connect with Jose Ismael Torres and others you may know. 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. I would never allow someone to be prosecuted for exercising his or her First Amendment right to fly whatever flag they choose, regardless of anyones personal feelings about it, Fortner wrote. 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. Jon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York. We find no reversible error in the trial court's response to the question. 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. Moreover, Torres elaborates no arguments suggesting that the recharge, as a whole, was an incorrect statement of the law or that it would mislead a jury of ordinary intelligence. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion, and this enumeration of error fails. After the jurors returned to deliberate, the trial court asked counsel whether counsel had any concerns or objections. WebIn the Court of Appeals of Georgia A21A1148. [4] 3. Torres asserts, without any citation to authority, that threatening to shoot an individual does not constitute a threat suggesting the death of the threatened victims. They wept in a Douglas County courtroom as a judge imposed their punishments: Torres, 26, convicted of aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and a violating street-gang statute, received 13 years in prison and another seven on probation; Norton, 25, convicted of making terroristic threats and violating the gang law, will serve 6 years in prison and nine on probation. That is not him. 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. They said, Well blow the heads off all the little b and the little n can get one too., But at Torres and Nortons sentencing, party-goers accepted Nortons apology and offered forgiveness. Elizabeth Dalia Racine , Sean Garrett , Aimee Fatemeh Sobhani , for Appellee. 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