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Improper court procedure leads to dismissal of case of Athens man who allegedly shot victim in neck


Sanchez Smith

By Joe Johnson

The case of an Athens man accused of shooting a person in the neck was recently dismissed because proper court procedure had not been followed.

Clarke County Superior Court Judge Lawton Stephens dismissed the case because the District Attorney failed to bring it before a grand jury.

Rather, the criminal case against 38-year-old Sanchez Aaron Smith had been initiated by filing what is called an accusation, which solely uses DA’s information about an alleged crime to initiate a criminal prosecution.

In accordance with court rules, cases involving serious felonies must go to a grand jury so that the panel of citizens can decide whether there was sufficient evidence for the cases to proceed to trial.

According to Athens-Clarke County police, Sanchez shot Rashad Allen, 38 on Feb. 13, 2021 at the Rocksprings Homes apartment complex.

The two men had argued earlier in the day, police said, and when Smith later found the other man sitting in a car at Rocksprings Homes he “just started shooting,” striking Allen in the neck

The victim survived his injuries; Smith was subsequently arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

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7 Comments


Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson
Feb 19, 2023

This is unbelievable how incompetent DA "Debbie Does... not do her job" is. There should be some kind of emergency procedure to remove her from office. She then needs to be disbarred.

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sabrina_mynx
Feb 17, 2023

Appalling. I hope for this criminal's next act he does a home invasion at the DA's house & threatens her family with violence. Maybe then she'll "Get it".

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Geronimo509
Feb 16, 2023

The people have spoken and it’s clear they are as clueless as the fool they elected to the DA’s office.

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Unknown member
Feb 16, 2023

That’s what happens when you vote the letter and not the person. Both of her opponents were far more qualified than she will ever be. Governor Kemp, when are you going to finally step in and stop the madness?

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Izzy Mendalbaum
Izzy Mendalbaum
Feb 16, 2023

I'm not a big fan of folks who want people removed from their elected jobs because of a political stand or party affiliation. But enough is enough. How many more violent criminals will be set free because our DA's office is incompetent? This circuit deserves a fire breather. We elected something totally different.

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