State v. Carlisle, 280 Ga. 770

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia held that a defendant may not be convicted as a party to aggravated stalking without proof that she knew a court order prohibited the principal from contacting the victim. The defendant need not know the specific type of court order, but the evidence must support knowledge that some prohibitory court order was in effect. The court concluded that the evidence authorized the conviction and reversed the Court of Appeals.

Holdings

1. A person may not be convicted as a party to aggravated stalking for assisting another person's stalking unless the person knew that a court order prohibited the other person from contacting the victim.
2. The State need not prove that the defendant knew the specific type of qualifying court order in effect; it need only prove that the defendant knew a court order prohibited the co-defendant from contacting the victim.
3. The evidence authorized a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Carlisle knew, before the December 20 stalking incident, that a court order prohibited Gibbs from contacting the victim.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a person may be convicted as a party to aggravated stalking for assisting another person's stalking without knowing that a court order prohibited the other person from contacting the victim.
2. Whether the State had to prove that Carlisle knew the specific type of court order, namely a condition of bond, that prohibited Gibbs's contact with the victim.
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Carlisle knew such a court order was in effect when she assisted Gibbs.

Disposition

reversed