Georgia v. Mondor

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The State the dismissal of an indictment against Dannie Albert Mondor, who cross-appealed. The indictment charged Mondor with homicide by vehicle in the first degree predicated on a hit-and-run offense (Count 1), and hit and run. Mondor filed demurrers to the indictment, as well as a motion to present evidence that Bradley Braland, who died as a result of the accident set forth in the indictment, was not wearing his seatbelt. The trial court dismissed the indictment because it was not “perfect in form and substance,” concluding that the hit-and-run count (Count 2) did not allege the essential element of mens rea. In the same motion, the trial court denied Mondor’s motion to present seatbelt-use evidence, declining to “find an exception” to the well-established “bar against seatbelt use evidence” under OCGA 40-8-76.1. Finally, the trial court also declined Mondor’s request related to his claims of unconstitutional vagueness to “declare an exact definition of the word ‘cause’ as used in OCGA 40-6-393.” The Georgia Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the indictment in Case Number S19A0209, and affirmed the exclusion of seatbelt-use evidence in Case Number S19X0210 for reasons different from those that the trial court gave. View "Georgia v. Mondor" on Justia Law