North Macon Teen Slain in Shooting

Few details were available after a 17-year-old Macon boy was shot and killed in a parking lot of a popular fitness center.

A release from the Bibb County Sheriff’s office says it started with a call for a fight in the Planet Fitness parking lot on Tom Hill Sr. Blvd. While Deputies were on the way, a call came in for a person shot at that same location. When they got there, they found a 17-year-old victim seriously injured from a gunshot wound. Deputy coroner Lonnie Miley later pronounced him dead at the hospital.

Officials say the investigation remains open.

Criminal Investigations

Murder investigations and other criminal investigations are challenging affairs, to say the least. Investigators must not only collect enough evidence to establish probable cause. The proof must also establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Civil investigations are different, because the burden of proof in court is so much lower. More on that below.

On the surface, a standard motive, means, and opportunity investigation in a case like a gym parking lots shooting case seems straightforward. Find out who disliked the victim. Then, find out who owned a gun and who was at the gym at the time.

Motive witnesses often have unseemly agendas. Juan might point a finger at Antonio because he doesn’t like Antonio, or he wants to throw suspicion onto someone else. Juan might say the same thing about Antonio’s gun ownership. Then, if security video or another witness says Antionio was in the area at the time, police officers believe they’ve got their man, although the evidence against Antonio is shaky.

Time is a factor as well. As a rule of thumb, unless officers make an arrest within about forty-eight hours, the trail goes cold. Promising leads become dead ends. The combination of the zero-in-on-one-guy factor and the wrap-it-up-quickly factor often causes police officers to take shortcuts, especially in the motive and means portions.

We mentioned some substantive issues in motive investigations. Procedural issues, specifically a failure to respect the suspect’s Fifth Amendment rights, are normally an issue as well.

Everyone, suspects and non-suspects alike, has a right to remain silent. Unless a motive witness expressly waives that right, any evidence s/he provides, such as a person’s name, is fruit from a poisonous tree and therefore inadmissible.

Compounding their mistakes, police officers often obtain warrants based on tips from biased witnesses. Such information could be accurate, yet unreliable. A blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut, but a blind squirrel is clearly unreliable.

Criminal Liability

If a Marietta criminal defense lawyer chips away at the evidence, prosecutors are hard-pressed to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. The state needs all the credible evidence it can muster to meet this high burden of proof. Convicting a defendant is like doing the high jump. An inch or two could be the difference between clearing the bar and crashing into it.

Faced with the possibility of not clearing the bar, many prosecutors make favorable pretrial deals. For both parties, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Many prosecutors would rather convict the defendant of something, even if it’s a lesser offense, than risk letting the defendant walk free.

So, charge reduction plea bargains are very common, especially if a Marietta criminal defense lawyer chips away at the evidence, as outlined above. For example, prosecutors might reduce aggravated assault to ordinary assault, if the defendant agrees to plead guilty and makes a few concessions, such as agreeing to a long probation term or a few more restrictions.

Speaking of probation, criminal liability issues generally don’t end when the judge’s gavel falls. In fact, in many cases, these issues are just beginning.

State law doesn’t limit probation terms in Georgia. So, these terms are often abnormally long. Many people can toe the line for a few months. But over a longer period of time, they get in trouble with the law, miss an appointment, fail a drug test, miss a deadline, or otherwise violate their probation.

Probation revocation isn’t automatic, even if the defendant really messed up. A Marietta criminal defense lawyer can still obtain a positive outcome.

Rather than accept defeat, upon the advice of their lawyers, many defendants appeal their convictions. Appeal is usually a no-risk proposition. If the defendant loses the appeal, the current sentence goes into effect. That would’ve happened anyway.

Appeals court losses are very common. Basically, the defendant must prove that a major error altered the trial’s outcome. That’s an even higher burden of proof than beyond a reasonable doubt. That being said, your case could be the exception.

Civil Investigations and Liability

Violent crimes, like murders, often involve civil proceedings as well. Civil proceedings compensate crime victims.

We mentioned the lower burden of proof above. A Marietta personal injury lawyer must establish facts by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). A DUI-collision case, a very common civil/criminal crossover matter, is a good example.

Prosecutors often have a hard time “wheeling” the defendant, especially if more than one person was in the car. But in civil court, it’s more likely than not that either occupant was behind the wheel at any given time.

Furthermore, time usually isn’t a factor in these investigations. The statute of limitations in most personal injury cases is two years. That time passes quickly, but it’s a lot more time than two days. So, attorneys have time to build strong cases without taking shortcuts.

Unlit parking lots are among the most common negligent security hazards. The owner is financially responsible for damages if a duty of care applied and the owner knew about, or should have known about, the injury-causing hazard. Typically, an out-of-state holding company legally owns commercial premises.

Generally, owners have a duty to provide safe and secure environments for business or social invitees (people with permission to visit and who benefit the owner in some way). A security check could prove direct knowledge. The time-notice rule governs circumstantial evidence. If a security light burns out, owners usually have a day or two to replace it.

Many cases have civil and criminal implications. For a free consultation with an experienced Marietta criminal defense lawyer, contact The Phillips Law Firm, LLC. Virtual, home, and jail visits are available.