Genarlow Wilson Making Some Headway

From CNN:

Wilson, 21, was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, during a 2003 New Year's Eve party in Douglas County, just west of Atlanta, Georgia.

Wilson was also charged with raping a 17-year-old girl at the party -- who prosecutors maintained was too intoxicated to consent -- but jurors acquitted him on that charge.

Under the state law in effect at the time, Wilson received a mandatory 10-year sentence and has already served more than two years.

Partly as a result of Wilson's conviction, state legislators changed the law to make such consensual conduct between teenagers a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. But that change wasn't made retroactive, so it did not affect Wilson.

Monday, acting on a petition filed by his attorneys, Monroe County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson ruled that Genarlow Wilson's punishment was cruel and unusual and voided it on constitutional grounds. The judge reduced the sentence to one year and said Wilson should not be put on Georgia's sex offender registry, as the old law required.

Wilson's attorneys hoped to use the ruling to free him from state prison. But shortly after it was handed down, Baker announced he would appeal the decision, a move that keeps Wilson behind bars.

In a statement announcing his decision, Baker said he filed the appeal to resolve "clearly erroneous legal issues," charging that the judge did not have the authority "to reduce or modify the judgment of the trial court."

I'm no Georgia lawyer, but I suspect that at this late date the judge is going for a statement as opposed to believing he had the authority to make the ruling.  Previous Posts are here.  Sex Crimes has a great roundup of coverage here.  Slow blogging lately as I am moving my office and, hey, its a beautiful Maine summer. 

Comments

[Breanna]

How horrible! That poor kid. Most of us are promiscuous as teenagers. I'm sorry but this is very unjust, but that's how it is in most of these cases. The ones that deserve to be castrated walk away with a slap on the wrist and an innocent kid gets to go to prison. What a system we have!

[ZMan]

See this YouTube video from Mr. Baker (AG):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH_0qbDdbGQ