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Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 17. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Chapter 8. TRIAL · Article 4. CONDUCT AND ARGUMENT OF COUNSEL

17-8-76. Argument to or in front of jury as to possibility of clemency.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. (a)

    No attorney at law in a criminal case shall argue to or in the presence of the jury that a defendant, if convicted, may not be required to suffer the full penalty imposed by the court or jury because pardon, parole, or clemency of any nature may be granted by the Governor, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, or other proper authority vested with the right to grant clemency.#

  2. (b)

    If counsel for either side in a criminal case argues to or in the presence of the jury as provided in subsection (a) of this Code section, opposing counsel shall have the right immediately to request the court to declare a mistrial, in which case it shall be mandatory upon the court to declare a mistrial. Failure to declare a mistrial shall constitute reversible error.#

  3. (c)

    This Code section shall be construed as setting forth requirements in addition to other requirements of law.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Ga. L. 1955, p. 191, §§ 1-3.

Law reviews

For note, ‘‘Can’t Do the Time, Don’t Do the Crime?: Dixon v. State, Statutory Construction, and the Harsh Realities of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in Georgia,’’ see 22 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 519 (2005).

Other notes

U.S. Code.
Closing arguments, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 29.1.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t17-(v15)-2020-pdf.pdf, Volume V15, 2020 edition, pages 930 to 931; merge action: annotated; file SHA-256 0b0d45f9c609.