Whitehead Conviction Overturned By Supreme Court of Georgia
Thursday, October 22, 2009 | SowegaLive ;)
In a document dated October 16th, 2009, from the Court of Appeals of Georgia, regarding Whitehead v. State, Whitehead challenged his conviction on several grounds, including insufficiency of evidence.
Richard Dennis Whitehead (37), formerly employed as an English teacher at Bainbridge High School, was convicted in December 2007 of unlawful sexual contact with a 17 year old student registered at the school and was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison, with 20 years to serve. Whitehead was originally arrested March 23, 2007 and charged with 9 counts of sexual assault.
The Court of Appeals Of Georgia affirmed Whitehead's conviction, ruling that the evidence was sufficient to show that Whitehead had "supervisory or disciplinary authority" over the 17 year old student as required for conviction under OCGA 16-6-5.1(b) which provides that "...a supervisor of another person referred to in this Code Section commits sexual assault when he or she engages in sexual contact with another person.... who is enrolled in school.... and such actor has supervisory or disciplinary authority over such other person."
The Supreme Court of Georgia granted Whitehead's petition for review by the higher court and remanded the case for further consideration given the recent Supreme Court's decision in Chase v. State Of Georgia. In Chase v. Georgia, the Supreme Court addressed the question of whether OCGA 16-6-5.1 (c) (3) which provides that " consent of the victim shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this subsection" also applies to charges brought under OCGA 16-6-5.1(b). The Supreme Court answered this question in the negative, ruling that "the General Assembly intended to eliminate consent as a defense to the crimes created by this subsection (c) ONLY. Thus, the Supreme Court concluded that as to the alleged victims who were over age of consent, " subsection (c) (3) did not remove consent of the alleged victim as a viable defense to a charge of sexual assault of a person enrolled in school, because the crime was created by the subsection(b) of the statute, not subsection (c). In Chase v. State, the alleged victim was 16 years old and therefore over the age of consent; and the Supreme Court held that the trial court erred in preventing the defendant from raising consent as a defense at trial".
In light of the Supreme Court's interpretation of OCGA 16-6-5.1(b), "we conclude that the evidence adduced against Whitehead was insufficient to support his conviction.... the alleged victim, was a high school student over the age of consent. (The student).. testified that no force was used in any of the sexual contacts between her and Whitehead; that their friendship was mutual; and that she herself had asked Whitehead how far he wanted to take the relationship. In short, the record reflects that the alleged victim in this case consented to the sexual contacts with Whitehead. Thus, Whiteheads conduct with the alleged victim was not a crime because the "victim" was over the age of consent when the contact occurred and was a willing participant in the sexual activity. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of Georgia reverses Whitehead's conviction.
In light of the Supreme Court ruling, Whitehead will be released from the Calhoun State Prison in Morgan Georgia, where he has been serving his 20 year sentence, perhaps within the next week or so. The overturning of the conviction will result in a clearing of this matter from Whitehead's record and all previous requirements to register as a sex offender will no longer be applicable. Whitehead was not previously eligible for release until 2027.
District Attorney Joseph K. Mullholland stated "While the conviction was certainly iron clad, based upon the laws that were in effect at the time, this Supreme Court decision is the final word. We do plan on working with legislators during the next session to correct this technicality and specify the consent issue with clarification to teachers and students under age 18. However, once the Supreme Court has reversed the conviction, Richard Whitehead can not be re-tried for this particular instance. He will be a free man."
To review the court documents regarding Whitehead v.The State of Georgia and basis(es) for the overturning of the conviction, click here.
In November 2006, 28 year old Melissa Lee Chase was a highly regarded teacher and coach at Harlem High School in Harlem, Georgia that had developed a friendship with a 16 year old female student. The friendship later developed into a sexual relationship. According to testimony from the "victim", she had "pushed" the relationship with Garcia, which was later ruled by the Supreme Court, in fact to be consensual.
To review the court documents regarding the case used as a basis for the decision Chase v. State of Georgia click here.
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