---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-1-7. Multiple prosecutions for same conduct.
collection: code
id: 16-1-7
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-1-7 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-1-7
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-1-7.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-1-7/text
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date: 2025
status: active
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publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / GENERAL PROVISIONS
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-1-7. Multiple prosecutions for same conduct.

(a) When the same conduct of an accused may establish the commission of more than one crime, the accused may be prosecuted for each crime. He may not, however, be convicted of more than one crime if:

(1) One crime is included in the other; or

(2) The crimes differ only in that one is defined to prohibit a designated kind of conduct generally and the other to prohibit a specific instance of such conduct.

(b) If the several crimes arising from the same conduct are known to the proper prosecuting officer at the time of commencing the prosecution and are within the jurisdiction of a single court, they must be prosecuted in a single prosecution except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section.

(c) When two or more crimes are charged as required by subsection (b) of this Code section, the court in the interest of justice may order that one or more of such charges be tried separately.

## History

Code 1933, § 26-506, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 16.

## Cross References

Multiple jeopardy, U.S. Const., amend. 5 and Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XVIII. Fraud generally, § 16-9-50 et seq.

## Law Reviews

For survey article citing developments in Georgia criminal law from mid-1980 through mid-1981, see 33 Mercer L. Rev. 95 (1981). For annual survey of criminal law, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 129 (1986). For annual survey on criminal law and procedure, see 42 Mercer L. Rev. 141 (1990).

For note discussing organized crime in Georgia with respect to the application of state gambling laws, and suggesting proposals for combatting organized crime, see 7 Ga. St. B. J. 124 (1970).

For comment, ‘‘Grady v. Corbin: An Unsuccessful Effort to Define Same Offense,’’ see 25 Ga. L. Rev. 143 (1990).