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Serious Felonies

Atlanta Serious Felonies Lawyers

If you have been charged with federal crimes, contacting a criminal defense lawyer should be your first priority.

Serious felonies can take many forms, including drug crimes, white-collar crimes, drunk driving, violent crimes, and other felony offenses. These types of crimes and charges can come with long prison sentences, heavy fines, and other penalties. You need an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you fight back.

The Atlanta criminal defense attorneys at Garland, Samuel, & Loeb Law can help you when you’re facing felony charges in the Atlanta area. Our legal team has years of experience with felony criminal cases and with how criminal law applies to federal crimes. We will fight for you and work toward the most favorable outcome.

Get started right now with a free consultation.

What to Expect When Charged with Serious Felonies

You are right to be concerned if you or a loved one has been charged with a felony. The criminal justice system can be ruthless in pursuing these charges. Law enforcement officers may violate your rights when collecting evidence, and the district attorney may choose to press charges even if there is little evidence of your guilt.

You may be confined to jail while waiting for your trial if you cannot convince the judge that you are a flight risk. You may also be unable to leave jail until trial if you cannot make the bail the judge has set.

If you have a jury trial, you will need to have representation in court.. Our lawyers have extensive experience with courtroom settings. We can prepare you to give testimony and present yourself in a way that will allow you to be taken seriously in a courtroom.

You should pursue obtaining experienced legal advice as soon as possible. You will need to speak to a lawyer to get answers matched to your criminal offense in the state of Georgia. Our experienced Atlanta criminal defense lawyers can help. We take the attorney-client relationship very seriously and will support you throughout the case.

Types of Serious Felonies in Atlanta

Murder

Several laws address homicide in Georgia: There are two types of murder charges: malice murder and felony murder.

Malice murder is the intentional taking of another person’s life with malice and without any justification. There are defenses (accident, self-defense) that the prosecution has the burden of proving do not exist. If the prosecution proves that the defendant killed another person maliciously, without any excuse or accident defense, the crime is murder, which automatically results in a sentence of life in prison. The punishment may include a provision that the sentence is not subject to parole (life without parole) or subject to parole in 30 years.

Felony murder does not require proof that the defendant intended to kill the victim. Instead, the crime requires that the defendant intentionally committed another crime (for example, armed robbery), and whether the defendant intended to kill the victim or not, a person died as a result of the commission of that other felony.

The prosecution will often rely on proof that the defendant intended to assault the victim (with a weapon), and regardless of whether the defendant intended to kill the victim, the victim was killed. If the defendant did intend to assault the victim with a weapon, they are guilty of felony murder, notwithstanding the defendant’s lack of intent to kill the victim. A conviction for felony murder results in the same sentence as a conviction for malice murder: an automatic life sentence, either with or without the possibility of parole.

There are other homicide offenses in the Georgia Code.

  1. Voluntary manslaughter: This offense, punishable by a sentence of one to 20 years in prison, is often referred to as “heat of passion” homicide. The defendant intended to kill the victim, but there was a reason, short of malice, such as sudden anger caused by something the victim did.

  2. Involuntary manslaughter: This offense, which is less “blameworthy,” addresses the situation where the defendant did not intend to kill the victim and was not engaged in a felony that caused the victim’s death, but the defendant acted recklessly. For example, if the defendant is on his back porch in an urban area, shooting a gun at squirrels, but a stray bullet kills a neighbor, this may be the subject of an involuntary manslaughter prosecution.

  3. Vehicular homicide: This offense addresses motor vehicle offenses that result in the death of the victim. This offense is a felony if the defendant was DUI or driving recklessly. This offense is a misdemeanor if the defendant violated some other provision of the motor vehicle code, such as running through a stop sign or changing lanes without due caution.

Rape

There is no uncertainty about the definition of this offense, though the prosecution can rely on different ways of proving “lack of consent.” Generally, a defendant is guilty of rape if he (almost always a man) forcibly has sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent.

Frequently, rape charges are brought against a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is too drunk to consent, asleep, or otherwise mentally incapable of giving consent. Rape is punishable by a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The prosecution must prove that the defendant was aware that the victim did not consent (or was incapable of consenting). In other words, one cannot commit the offense of rape accidentally or without the intent to commit the crime.

Child Molestation

Virtually any sexual contact with a child under the age of 16 may be prosecuted as child molestation. The defendant must commit the act with the intent to satisfy his own or the child’s sexual urge. This “intent” is what distinguishes child molestation from bathing a child.

Child Pornography

Any picture that depicts a child under the age of 18 constitutes child pornography if the picture depicts the exposed genitals or breasts and involves sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse that is intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of either the child or the person.

Aggravated Assault

Aggravated assault is committed when the defendant assaults the victim and does so either with a dangerous weapon or with the intent to kill, rape or rob the victim. Aggravated assault is punishable by a sentence of one to 20 years in prison.

Drug Cases

Numerous drug offenses are included in the Georgia Code, including charges related to simple possession, possession with intent to distribute, actual distribution, and trafficking. These offenses apply to numerous drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and scores of other controlled substances, including pharmaceutical drugs.

There are cases involving street-level distributors and other cases involving corrupt doctors who sell opioids for no legitimate medical purpose. The sentences range from probation to life in prison, depending on the drug involved, the quantity of the drug involved, and the defendant’s prior record.

Firearm Offenses

Most Georgia weapons offenses are charged because other criminal conduct is alleged to have been committed using a weapon such as a gun, knife, or blunt object that may be considered a weapon. We handle state and federal weapons charges involving:

  • Intent to commit a crime

  • Concealed weapons

  • Stolen weapons

  • Unlicensed weapons

  • Failure to register a firearm

  • Illegal sawed-off shotguns, automatic weapons, silencers and more

  • Unlawful weapons sales or trafficking

  • Buying weapons for someone else (straw purchase)

  • Possession or use on federal property

  • Possession by a convicted felon

Convictions on weapons charges mean harsh penalties that may include large fines, probation, jail time, or prison time. Using a weapon to commit a crime or having a previous felony conviction automatically increases a charge to a felony, with even greater penalties.

Contact Our Team of Felony Defense Attorneys

When you hire the law firm of Garland, Samuel & Loeb, you can rely on our Atlanta Serious Felonies Lawyers to do everything in their power to reach the best possible outcome in your case. Criminal law is one of the core practice areas of our law office. Whether you have suffered a serious personal injury in an accident or are facing criminal charges, our attorneys know how to help and will fight to ensure your rights are protected from the start. Get started with a free initial consultation through our Serious Felony Contact Form.


FAQs about Serious Felonies

Any crime for which the sentence can be higher than 12 months. If the maximum sentence is 12 months or less, the crime is a misdemeanor.

It is hard to say, but drug offenses are prosecuted all throughout the metro Atlanta area.

For most felonies (those that do not require a mandatory minimum, such as rape, armed robbery, and murder), the minimum is one year of probation.

There are felonies that have mandatory minimum sentences, such as murder, armed robbery, rape, aggravated child molestation.

Unless the defendant’s civil rights are restored, a felon cannot possess a gun. A felon cannot vote while on probation (once someone's case is totally over, including any time on probation, they are eligible to vote again). There are various professions that would prohibit a felon from getting licensed (with exceptions). And for some offenses, the sexual registry would limit what a defendant can do (or where the defendant can live or work).

Felonies are prosecuted in both federal and state court; in either court, all felonies are serious crimes. But sometimes federal crimes have harsher punishments that can make them seem more serious than state crimes.

Some felonies have mandatory minimum sentences (for example, murder = life in prison; rape = 25 years in prison.) Other felonies have no mandatory minimum, so the judge can impose a sentence of probation, or 20 years. The sentence will reflect the seriousness of the offense, the background of the defendant, and other factors that might suggest that a longer, or sentence is appropriate.

The short answer is “forever” but there are exceptions, for example, if the sentence is imposed pursuant to the first offender act, the felony is removed from the defendant’s record when the period of probation ends.

The time Georgia has to indict on a crime is known as the statute of limitations. Different types of violent crimes have different limitations attached to them. Prosecution for crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment must be commenced within seven years. Prosecutions for other felonies need to be started within four years. 

For most felonies, but not all, the statute of limitations is four years, but there are exceptions that can extend that time limit.

The term “stay open” is not a legal term. But if the defendant has been indicted, the defendant can insist on a speedy trial (which, depending on the county, would require a trial within 6 – 8 months). Otherwise, the crowded dockets in some counties may result in delays for a couple years before a trial is held.

A judge has the authority to send a first-time felony offender to jail, though for “lower level” felonies, it is less likely to receive jail time.

Yes, unless the felony is for an offense, such as rape, armed robbery, murder, aggravated child molestation, which require a mandatory minimum sentence with very few exceptions.

You can get probation for a felony drug charge in Georgia. Georgia also has a specific statute that is sometimes called a "drug first offender" which applies only to certain drug cases. If you qualified for that deferred adjudication, then you can avoid having a conviction on your record.

Yes. The decision to “drop” a felony, or dismiss the charge is up to the prosecutor, though the judge, for good cause, can also dismiss a charge.

Yes. The prosecutor can always reduce the charges as part of a plea agreement, or because the facts of the case do not support a felony disposition.

Yes, unless the judge orders otherwise. The defendant must make sure that if there is a search of the house, the police will readily see that the gun is owned and possessed by somebody other than the defendant.

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When you hire the law firm of Garland, Samuel & Loeb, you can rely on us to do everything in our power to reach the best possible outcome in your case. Whether you have suffered a serious injury in an accident or are facing criminal charges, our attorneys will fight to see that your rights are protected from the start. 

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When you hire the law firm of Garland, Samuel & Loeb, you can rely on us to do everything in our power to reach the best possible outcome in your case. Whether you have suffered a serious injury in an accident or are facing criminal charges, our attorneys will fight to see that your rights are protected from the start.  

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Garland Law Building | 3151 Maple Drive, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30305 | (404) 262-2225 (Phone) | (404) 365-5041 (Fax)