Perkinson v. State, 273 Ga. 491

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia held that double jeopardy barred DeKalb County from prosecuting Eric Perkinson for kidnapping with bodily injury and armed robbery after Bartow County proceedings arising from the same criminal episode. The majority concluded that the underlying felonies were lesser-included offenses of felony murder and that the counties were not separate sovereigns. A partial dissent maintained that the felony murder verdicts did not result in valid convictions and therefore could not bar the armed robbery prosecution.

Holdings

1. Double jeopardy bars DeKalb County from prosecuting Perkinson for kidnapping with bodily injury and armed robbery when those offenses were the predicate felonies incorporated into the Bartow County felony-murder convictions.
2. Double jeopardy bars the DeKalb County prosecution for kidnapping with bodily injury because false imprisonment is a lesser-included offense of kidnapping with bodily injury and Perkinson had already been convicted of false imprisonment of both victims.

Questions Presented

1. Whether double jeopardy barred DeKalb County from prosecuting kidnapping with bodily injury and armed robbery after Bartow County convictions for felony murder incorporating those offenses as predicate felonies.
2. Whether double jeopardy barred prosecution for kidnapping with bodily injury after Bartow County convictions for false imprisonment of the victims, a lesser-included offense.
3. Whether the fact that the Bartow County felony-murder convictions were vacated by operation of law permitted a later prosecution for the underlying felonies in another county.

Disposition

reversed