Supreme Court of Georgia set to hear juvenile insanity plea case

ATLANTA — Counsel for a juvenile facing delinquency charges in Chatham County is asking the Supreme Court to vacate the county juvenile court’s denial of his motion for a forensic psychological evaluation and to send his case back to the juvenile court with instructions to permit him to raise the defense of insanity. The court will hear the case on Wednesday.

The juvenile, referred to in the case as T.B., allegedly locked himself in a storage closet at the White Sail Hotel in Savannah on Jan. 24, 2019. T.B. refused to leave the storage closet despite police commands and was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault on a peace officer, aggravated battery, two counts of obstruction of an officer, criminal trespass, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, and two counts of possession of drug-related objects.

Following his release from police custody, T.B. was involuntarily hospitalized because he was experiencing delusions, according to attorneys from the Eastern Circuit Public Defender’s Office who are representing him. They filed a motion for a forensic psychological evaluation.

After a hearing, the juvenile court denied the motion and prohibited the insanity defense from being raised. T.B.’s counsel filed an application for appeal to the Court of Appeals, which determined it did not have jurisdiction and transferred the case to the Supreme Court.

The Eastern Circuit District Attorney’s Office, which is representing the state, had initially argued that the juvenile court did not err in denying T.B.’s motion for a forensic psychological evaluation because the Georgia Juvenile Code does not provide for the insanity defense for juveniles. However, following a change in leadership in January 2021, the District Attorney’s Office changed its argument and filed a revised brief on Oct. 14, which stated that the Supreme Court “could (and should) permit the use of the insanity defense in the juvenile court as a matter of fundamental fairness, due process and equal protection.”

The case has drawn amicus, or friend of the court, briefs from the Emory University School of Law’s Barton Child Law & Policy Center and the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia. The Supreme Court also granted a motion allowing the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia to argue the appellee’s original position.

Attorneys for the Appellant (T.B.): Yolanda Bacharach, Amanda J. Walker, both from the Eastern Circuit Public Defender’s Office

Attorneys for the Appellee (State): Shalena Cook Jones, Eastern Circuit District Attorney, Michael L. Edwards, Chief Asst. D.A., N. Michele Harris, Juvenile Deputy Chief D.A., Brittany L. Padgett, Asst. D.A.

Amicus Curiae in Support of the Appellant (Barton Child Law & Policy Center of Emory University School of Law, Lorio Forensics, and Dr. Sarah Y. Vinson):

Randee J. Waldman Amicus Curiae in Support of the Appellee (District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia):

Bradford L. Rigby, President of the District Attorneys’ Association of Georgia, Robert W. Smith, Jr., General Counsel for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, William D. Johnson, Adult Abuse, Neglect, & Exploitation Prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.

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