jose ismael torres appeal
They eventually clashed with an African American family holding a birthday party, threatening them with a knife, tire iron and a gun. Its inexplicable to me that you werent arrested by the police that day.. 149. /Info 43 0 R The constitutional purpose for identifying the victim is to apprise the defendant of the charges against him. The jurors did not request additional charges or state that they needed any additional information. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, will spend 13 years in prison; Kayla Rae Norton, 25, is to serve six years, Atlanta news outlets report. Stewart v. State, 246 Ga. 70, 72(2), 268 S.E.2d 906 (1980); accord Poole, 326 Ga. App. Get a roundup of the most important and intriguing national stories delivered to your inbox every weekday. In order to establish that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective, Torres must show that his attorneys performance was deficient and that he was prejudiced by the deficient performance. Our Compliance bundles are curated by CLE Counselors and include current legal topics and challenges within the industry. DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. A Georgia judge sentenced two people to lengthy prison terms for their role in the disruption of a black childs birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. Jose Torres, left, weeps in his seat while during his sentencing at the Douglas County Courthouse in Douglasville, Ga., Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. The Georgia group called itself Respect the Flag, and prior to the attack was seen driving in a convoy of trucks flying rebel flags, shouting threats at black people, authorities said. Before sentencing, Norton spoke directly to the family members who were at the party. Dynamically explore and compare data on law firms, companies, individual lawyers, and industry trends. See also Martinez-Chavez v. State, 352 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. After frantic 911 calls, Douglasville police arrived and forced Torres, Norton and their group to leave. 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. But if youre driving around waving Confederate flags and using the N-word everywhere you go, then theres only one way to interpret that.. After the jurors returned to deliberate, the trial court asked counsel whether counsel had any concerns or objections. She said she grew up seeing it all over the Alabama town where she was raised. WebJose Ismael Torres, Wewahitchka, pro se. 142, 143 (1) (834 SE2d 139) (2019) (a trial court is obligated to sentence a defendant pursuant to the statute in effect at the time he committed the offense). Web69,783 court search results for people named "Jose Torres" in the United States. My understanding was that the Court was going to read the same thing that you read to them in [the full jury] charge, rather than just the charges themselves. Summers is serving four years in prison and Henderson is serving two. He said it had been his intent to kill black people and start a race war. Access to additional free ALM publications, 1 free article* across the ALM subscription network every 30 days, Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications. Torres appeals following the It is well settled that an indictment that uses statutory language to charge the defendant with a crime will withstand a demurrer alleging that the indictment is insufficient. That is not me. Want to discuss? The display of the battle flag hadnt disturbed Alford all that much. 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. Although the jurors note contained a parenthetical reference to the 18-page document that comprised all jury instructions, the note specifically requested the definitions of the charges. The trial court recharged those definitions and repeatedly ensured that the jurors understood the recharge. 142, 143(1), 834 S.E.2d 139 (2019) (a trial court is obligated to sentence a defendant pursuant to the statute in effect at the time he committed the offense). He noted that the pair would both have been aware of white supremacist Dylann Roofs attack on a predominantly black Charleston church that left nine dead less than a month before. She is a two-time James Beard Award finalist and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687 (III). WebGet free access to the complete judgment in Torres v. State on CaseMine. They even threatened to kill children at the party. Keep fg with our flag!!!!!! trailer WebView the profiles of people named Jose Ismael Torres. Dyer v. State, 167 Ga.App. (WXIA), A metro Atlanta couple will be spending years behind prison bars after they were convicted of yelling racial slurs at a group of people celebrating a child's birthday party. The bond hearing is set for Monday morning. at 395(2), 819 S.E.2d 682. This claim therefore fails.4. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. At the conclusion of the recharge, the trial court stated, "I think I've answered your questions. A man and woman were sentenced to 13 and six years in prison for joining a group of Confederate flag supporters who threatened a Georgia community. On Monday morning, judge William McClain sentenced Torres to 20 years in jail, with a mandatory minimum of 13 years. 0000027251 00000 n Norton was sentenced to 15 years, with a minimum of six to serve. Write to Joseph Hincks at joseph.hincks@time.com. I suppose Confederate flags can be interpreted different ways and in different context. Debevoise Is Ready. Id. After the jurors returned to deliberate, the trial court asked counsel whether counsel had any concerns or objections. They were found guilty earlier this month. Jose Ismael Torres, 26, and Kayla Rae Norton, 25, (pictured above) were first arrested and convicted earlier in the month under a street gang terrorism law for the 2015 incident. [T]he essential elements of terroristic threats and acts are: (1) a threat to commit any crime of violence (2) with the purpose of terrorizing another.[1] Poole, 326 Ga. App. >> The two sentenced Monday, Jose Torres and Kayla Norton, who authorities said yelled racist slurs and threatened the birthday revelers with a shotgun, were the last of the group to be sentenced. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion, and this enumeration of error fails. Phipps, Senior Appellate Judge. /Prev 100447 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. When that gun was loaded, did you think about your children then? Alford said in an interview with the AJC on Tuesday. That was not lost on Alford, who works as a childrens mental health advocate. 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. 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Join Facebook to connect with Jose Ismael Torres and others you may know. 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. Torres contends that his trial counsel should have filed a general demuurer to Count 4 of the indictment the terroristic threats charge because the indictment did not name a specific victim in that count. 310, 311(3), 306 S.E.2d 313 (1983) (citations and punctuation omitted). We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying Torres's motion for a new trial on this ground. /Pages 42 0 R Rebel Flag Fans Face Gang Charge for Crashing Black Kids Party, Confederate flag group charged with terroristic threats. Jose Torres did not address the court or any courtroom witnesses during his sentencing hearing, but Kayla Norton did speak to birthday-party guests who were in court that day. 45 20 The trial court recharged those definitions and repeatedly ensured that the jurors understood the recharge. The video posted above showed police officers holding back the mostly black party guests while the parade of Confederate flag trucks drove past. [3] See Subar v. State, 309 Ga. 805, 809 (2) (848 SE2d 109) (2020) (where indictment was sufficient to survive a general demurrer, trial counsels failure to file such a meritless motion could not be deemed deficient performance); Bradford v. State, 327 Ga. App. Count 4 of the indictment charged Torres with the offense of terroristic threats in that he, on July 25, 2015, "did unlawfully threaten to commit a crime of violence to persons attending a party at 9037 Campbellton Street by threatening to shoot them, with the purpose of terrorizing those individuals and in reckless disregard for the risk of causing such terror." There were no objections to the court's decision. Although the jurors' note contained a parenthetical reference to the "18-page document" that comprised all jury instructions, the note specifically requested "the definitions of the charges." 0000018120 00000 n PHIPPS, Senior Appellate Judge. at 248 (2) (a) (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). I wasnt mad about them flying those flags, Alford said. The necessity, extent, and character of any supplemental instructions to the jury are matters within the discretion of the trial court and appellate review is limited to determining whether that discretion was abused. Hood v. State, 292 Ga. App. At issue here is how the trial court handled the request for the "definitions of the charges." Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning feature writer focusing on culture, arts and sometimes food, as they are expressed and experienced in Atlanta. Women, Influence & Power in Law UK Awards 2023, LITIGATION ATTORNEY - ATLANTA, GEORGIA- ENTRY LEVEL, AARONSON RAPPAPORT FEINSTEIN & DEUTSCH, LLP, The Art of Entertainment Law: A Conversation with Robert A. Celestin, Buying Legal Council Appoints Jason Winmill as New Chair, Understanding the Las Vegas Crime Rate with Attorney Tony Sgro, Introducing Virginia Ivanova, Esq. /T 100459 Gain access to some of the most knowledgeable and experienced attorneys with our 2 bundle options! 149 863 S.E.2d 399. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in sentencing Torres on his terroristic threats conviction. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. See Bautista v. State, 305 Ga. App. I am not a mean spirited person and Im sorry for your family that it had to come this far.. At some point, Norton and Torres confronted a black family that was throwing an 8-year-olds birthday party in the front yard of their home. >> 0000026308 00000 n Torres contends that his trial counsel should have filed a general demurrer to Count 4 of the indictment the terroristic threats charge because the indictment did not name a specific victim in that count. The court then stated: "I'm going to slowly and carefully define those offenses for you." The court repeatedly stopped to ask the jurors whether the recharge was helpful, whether the jurors felt they had grasped one concept before the court continued to another concept, and whether the jurors understood certain concepts, to which jurors each time responded affirmatively. Not until the following October, almost three months later, were members of Respect The Flag indicted for their activities in July. Two others had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges and received lesser sentences. "A trial court has a duty to recharge the jury on issues for which the jury requests a recharge." Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. Torres appeals following the denial of his motion for a new trial. at 395 (2). Prosecutors acknowledge that Norton was not one of riders who pointed shotguns at the group, but prosecutors say that she hurled menacing threats while yelling a racial epithet. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. We find no reversible error in the trial court's response to the question. "Under the first prong of this test, counsel's performance will be found deficient only if it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances and in light of prevailing professional norms." Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. The two had been part of a group of 15 people calling itself Respect the Flag. On July 24, on 2015, they began a rampage through neighboring Paulding County. 84, 88-89(3), 842 S.E.2d 532 (2020). The trial court found that trial counsel was not ineffective in this regard. This Court affirmed the five-year sentences imposed for each terroristic threat, concluding that each threat "suggest[ed] the death of the husband and wife." Local police came under fire on the day of the attack for choosing not to arrest any of the aggressors. 0000017752 00000 n State v. Grube, 293 Ga. 257, 260(2), 744 S.E.2d 1 (2013). All rights reserved. A metro Atlanta couple will be spending years behind prison bars after they were convicted of yelling racial slurs at a group of people celebrating a child's birthday party. 0-5 year associate attorney needed for a civil litigation firm in the Buckheadarea. 0000000729 00000 n Stewart v. State, 246 Ga. 70, 72 (2) (268 SE2d 906) (1980); accord Poole, 326 Ga. App. State v. Grube, 293 Ga. 257, 260 (2) (744 SE2d 1) (2013). Jose Ismael Torres was arrested Monday by Altamonte Springs police in a Volusia County hotel room. Georgia residents Jose Ismael Torres and Kayla Rae Norton were sentenced to lengthy prison terms February 26 for their participation in a two-day-long series of hate crimes that terrorized minorities throughout Douglas and Paulding counties in July 2015, one month after white supremacist (and Confederate battle flag admirer) Dylann Roof murdered nine African-American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in hopes of starting a race war. They got what they got, she said. /Names << /Dests 29 0 R>> @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/Dz2QWT2tBP Portia Bruner (@PortiaFOX5) February 27, 2017 In July 2015, just weeks after the Charleston church massacre, a large group of. (Getty). The judge ordered the two permanently banished from Douglas County once they are released. Photos: Hate crime in Douglasville, Georgia. /P 0 After discussing the request with the attorneys, the trial court informed counsel, "I'll just read the charges to them again slowly and carefully. 0000016559 00000 n Magazines, Digital Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying Torress motion for a new trial on this ground. !, District Attorney Brian Fortner (Credit: Douglas County DA Facebook page). Leagle.com reserves the right to edit or remove comments but is under no obligation to do so, or to explain individual moderation decisions. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. Our Team Account subscription service is for legal teams of four or more attorneys. We likewise find that Torres's threat to shoot the victims in this case suggested the death of the victims, and his five-year felony sentence would be lawful even under the current version of the statute. 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. . If that trigger would have gone off there would have been dead bodies all over that yard, Alford said. Jose Ismael Torres was arrested Monday by Altamonte Springs police in a Volusia County hotel room. (WXIA), A metro Atlanta couple will be spending years behind prison bars after they were convicted of yelling racial slurs at a group of people celebrating a child's birthday party. With this subscription you will receive unlimited access to high quality, online, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 64 0 obj See also MartinezChavez v. State, 352 Ga. App. 565, 569 (1) (b) (845 SE2d 305) (2020) (citation and punctuation omitted). In addition, at no point did the jurors ask for additional instructions either during or after the recharge. They caused so much mayhem, McClain said, 911 call centers were flooded with calls. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. Boutique law firm specializing in sophisticated real estate litigation &representation of commercial and residential tenants seeks one ( CASH KRUGLER & FREDERICKS LLC is Celebrating Our 20th Anniversary & Newest Partners! /Type /Catalog At the time, Alford said that members of the convoy interrupted the childs party with threats of violence and racial epithets. About Us| Each attorney is granted unlimited access to high quality, on-demand premium content from well-respected faculty in the legal industry along with administrative access to easily manage CLE for the entire team. The children at the party heard and saw much of the altercation. Here, Torres failed to establish deficient performance. ", Count 4 of Torres's 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. This claim lacks merit. Both options are priced the same. We disagree. << . Contact us. The court repeatedly stopped to ask the jurors whether the recharge was helpful, whether the jurors felt they had grasped one concept before the court continued to another concept, and whether the jurors understood certain concepts, to which jurors each time responded affirmatively. Poole v. State, 326 Ga.App. Under the first prong of this test, counsels performance will be found deficient only if it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances and in light of prevailing professional norms. Manner v. State, 302 Ga. 877, 881 (II) (808 SE2d 681) (2017). I forgive you. 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. As a result, a general demurrer would not have been successful, and Torress counsel did not perform deficiently by failing to pursue a meritless demurrer as to Count 4. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. /H [ 831 681 ] In fact, Torres's trial counsel specifically testified at the hearing on Torres's motion for a new trial that he did not file a general demurrer because although the indictment did not name a specific person, one or more video recordings showed several persons at the party. 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. Two people have been jailed for their role in ruining a black child's birthday party with Confederate flags, racial slurs and armed threats. PHIPPS, Senior Appellate Judge. Torres, 26, and Norton, 25, have three children between them. Judgment affirmed. I forgive you. PHIPPS, Senior Appellate Judge. If you drive around town with a Confederate flag, yelling the N-word, you know how its going to be interpreted, he said. All right?" The trip ended at the Douglasville home of Melissa Alford, who was hosting an outdoor birthday party for her black 8-year-old grandson. Phipps, Senior Appellate Judge. >> Contact Us| Tell the AJC: How do you experience race in Georgia? On Monday, Superior Court Judge William McClain, who described the pairs actions as being motivated by racial hatred, sentenced Torres to 20 years, with 13 to serve in prison, and Norton to 15, with six to serve. A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. WebTORRES v. The STATE. SPLC attorneys also brought witnesses to the prosecutor and have been representing some of the people at the party., The SPLC report included details most media sources omitted, including the exact threats and epithets Respect The Flag members allegedly shouted at party-goers. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687(III), 104 S.Ct. Also we would like the map display." X ! Prosecutors said that the group threatened black motorists and walked up to one of their cars with a gun. 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. << A jury found Jose Ismael Torres guilty of making terroristic threats, criminal street gang activity, and three counts of aggravated assault. 5d16-4395 state of florida, appellee. Barnes v. State, 305 Ga. 18, 23(3), 823 S.E.2d 302 (2019) (citation and punctuation omitted). 2. 391, 394(2), 819 S.E.2d 682 (2018). 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. stream 584, 587 (6) (666 SE2d 674) (2008). Thats kind of what I perceived that they wanted[.] Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Kaylee D. Tatman, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee. /Linearized 1 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. Torress counsel stated: As I understood the question, they were asking about the 18page document. Widner, 280 Ga. at 677(2), 631 S.E.2d 675 (citation and punctuation omitted). The Judge Criticized Douglasville Police For Not Arresting Anybody at the After their release, the two are permanently banned from Douglas County. 0000000017 00000 n Manner v. State, 302 Ga. 877, 881(II), 808 S.E.2d 681 (2017). Torres could not admit the conduct alleged in Count 4 and still be innocent of making terroristic threats. . Their actions were motivated by racial hatred, said Superior Court Judge William McClain. . Widner v. State, 280 Ga. 675, 677(2), 631 S.E.2d 675 (2006) (citation and punctuation omitted). She was even used to hearing the type of slurs hurled at her and her guests. WebJustia US Law Case Law Georgia Case Law Court of Appeals of Georgia Decisions 2021 JOSE TORRES v. THE STATE. They repeatedly yelled death threats saying they were going to killing all the n, Assistant District Attorney David Emadi said in court. . The statute at that time contained no misdemeanor provisions. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in sentencing Torres on his terroristic threats conviction. 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. Torres first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to completely answer a question posed by the deliberating jury. Two other people have received prison sentences, while the rest of those involved, about a dozen, did not get prison time but pleaded guilty to misdemeanors or entered pre-trial diversion programs, Fortner said. /E 46291 But then Alford thought of the reasons Norton was in court: the convoy of pickup trucks with Confederate flags, the vile racist epithets, the loaded shotgun leveled on her friends and family, the threats to blow childrens heads off. You may return and deliberate. The jurors did not request additional charges or state that they needed any additional information. [w]ith the purpose of terrorizing another[,] or . Aimed to help Insurers prevent, prepare and prevail In adjudicating complex claims, negotiating settlements and winning cases. 46 0 obj Great opportunity for advancement. Also we would like the map display. At issue here is how the trial court handled the request for the definitions of the charges. After discussing the request with the attorneys, the trial court informed counsel, Ill just read the charges to them again slowly and carefully. In addition, even assuming that the new statutory language applied at the time of Torres's sentencing in 2017, that language also authorizes a five-year sentence under the circumstances presented in this case. Citations are also linked in the body of the Featured Case. 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). What happened to you is absolutely awful.. ( $ x A C 4 W at 247 (2) (citation and punctuation omitted). WhenKayla Norton broke down in court on Monday, Melissa Alford felt a twinge of sympathy. This Court affirmed the five-year sentences imposed for each terroristic threat, concluding that each threat suggest[ed] the death of the husband and wife. Id. A general demurrer challenges the validity of an indictment by asserting that the substance of the indictment is legally insufficient to charge any crime, and it should be granted only when an indictment is absolutely void in that it fails to charge the accused with any act made a crime by the law. Poole v. State, 326 Ga. App. TermsPrivacyDisclaimerCookiesDo Not Sell My Information, Begin typing to search, use arrow keys to navigate, use enter to select, Stay up-to-date with FindLaw's newsletter for legal professionals. 0 WebTORRES v. THE STATE. 361 Ga.App. It is within the courts discretion to recharge the jury in full or only upon the point or points requested. 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 0000001512 00000 n endobj /L 101483 The trial court brought the jury into the courtroom and addressed its questions. The court first reminded the jury that three offenses were charged in the indictment: aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and a violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
jose ismael torres appeal