Home/Court of Appeals of Georgia/Kent v. State

Kent v. State

345 S.E.2d 669, 179 Ga. App. 131, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 1841
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedMay 16, 1986
Docket72338
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 345 S.E.2d 669 (Kent v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kent v. State, 345 S.E.2d 669, 179 Ga. App. 131, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 1841 (Ga. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

McMurray, Presiding Judge.

Three defendants appeal their convictions of a total of five counts of simple battery. Held:

Defendants contend that the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss from the jury panel for cause two or more correctional officers. It has been held to be error to refuse to dismiss for cause full-time police officers because “[i]t is inherent in the nature of police duties and the closeness with which such officers are identified with criminal procedures that questions regarding possible bias, fairness, prejudice or impermissible influence upon jury deliberations inevitably arise. These questions cannot be erased by a mere subjective, albeit sincere, declaration by the officer that he or she can be fair and impartial as to a defendant.” Hutcheson v. State, 246 Ga. 13, 14 (1) (268 SE2d 643). See also King v. State, 173 Ga. App. 838 (328 SE2d 740).

Correctional officers possess some police powers as provided by *132 regulation. See OCGA § 42-5-35 and Official Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rule 125-2-1-.09. However, such limited police powers do not necessitate the imputation of possible bias as in the instance of full-time police officers. There is no evidence that these correctional officers had ever participated in any criminal investigation or prosecution. Therefore, the case sub judice is distinguishable from Hutcheson v. State, 246 Ga. 13, 14 (1), supra. See Wilson v. State, 250 Ga. 630, 635 (4) (300 SE2d 640); Jordan v. State, 247 Ga. 328, 338-340 (6) (276 SE2d 224); Anderson v. State, 169 Ga. App. 729 (1), 730 (314 SE2d 735).

Decided May 16, 1986. Jack E. Carney, Jr., for appellants. Bruce Daniel Dubberly, Jr., Solicitor, for appellee.

Judgment affirmed.

Carley and Pope, JJ., concur.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Eddie Crawford v. State
Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2024
Jones v. State
674 S.E.2d 130 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2009)
Kier v. State
587 S.E.2d 841 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 2003)
Butts v. State
546 S.E.2d 472 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 2001)
Woods v. State
479 S.E.2d 414 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1996)
Thompson v. State
442 S.E.2d 771 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1994)
Hollis v. State
411 S.E.2d 48 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1991)
Pitts v. State
386 S.E.2d 351 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1989)
Culbertson v. State
386 S.E.2d 894 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Milner v. State
382 S.E.2d 666 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1989)
Stocks v. State
355 S.E.2d 103 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
345 S.E.2d 669, 179 Ga. App. 131, 1986 Ga. App. LEXIS 1841, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kent-v-state-gactapp-1986.