200 Ga. App. 104 - Wells v. State’s Empirical Analysis
1991
Citation profile
11 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 11 later decisions — most recently February 2020
11 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on 131 Ga. App. 307 - McRoy v. State · 172 Ga. App. 787 - Davis v. State · 95 Ga. App. 830 - Henderson v. State · Butts v. State · 16 Ga. App. 832 - Thompson v. State
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Subsection (6) applies when the otherwise criminal conduct at issue cannot be justified under the criteria set out in the other enumerated subsections of OCGA § 16-3-20, but a rational basis exists to assert that such conduct is justified because it stands “upon the same footing of reason and justice as those enumerated in this article.” Whether conduct is justified by fitting within the criteria of subsections (1) through (5), or whether it stands upon the same footing as these defenses is necessarily dictated by the facts of each case. Here, there is evidence to support the defendant’s contention that he falsely held himself out as a police officer in an attempt to avoid an immediate and reasonably perceived threat of serious bodily injury to himself. Though this conduct is analogous to conduct justified under OCGA §§ 16-3-21 (Use of force in defense of self or others) and 16-3-26 (Coercion), it does not fit within the parameters of either. Self defense does not apply because the defendant used verbal deception rather than force to defend himself. Coercion does not apply because those threatening the defendant were not attempting to coerce or compel him to impersonate a police officer, rather he chose that conduct as a defense to the threat. The defendant was entitled to a charge on justification under subsection (6) because the facts support a rationed connection between his conduct and the defenses of self defense and coercion which places his conduct on the same footing ”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence“(1) When the person’s conduct is justified under Code Section 16-3-21 [Self-defense], 16-3-23 [Defense of habitation], 16-3-24 [Defense of property other than habitation], 16-3-25 [Entrapment], or 16-3-26 [Coercion]; (2) When the person’s conduct is in reasonable fulfillment of his duties as a government officer or employee; (3) When the person’s conduct is the reasonable discipline of a minor by his parent or a person in loco parentis; (4) When the person’s conduct is reasonable and is performed in the course of making a lawful arrest; (5) When the person’s conduct is justified for any other reason under the laws of this state; or (6) In all other instances which stand upon the same footing of reason and justice as those enumerated in this article.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.