In 2024, Macon-Bibb County had one of the highest crime rates in Georgia.

Georgia’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s 2024 Summary Report showed Macon-Bibb County had an index crime rate of 52.12 per 1,000 people. This meant for every 1,000 people in Bibb County, there were over 52 crimes committed. This was nearly five times Georgia’s average. Among the crimes committed, aggravated assault was the second most prevalent in Bibb County, occurring approximately every five hours and 35 minutes. 

With over 1,473 aggravated assaults occurring in 2024 according to the UCR’s Summary Report, the pressure is on the Bibb County Superior Court system and the District’s Attorney’s office to keep cases moving.

According to both Former Assistant District Gregory Bushway and Defense Attorney Mary Downey, a typical case should move through the Superior Court system in one to three years. However, both Attorneys also noted this was not the case for Bibb County. 

“It can take anywhere from four to five years, sometimes even six or seven, for a serious case to move through Bibb County,” Bushway said. 

Downey echoed Bushway’s thoughts saying, “Bibb County runs really slowly. It’s not abnormal for a serious case to take four to five years to move through the system.” 

Downey followed this by stating that she has seen the backlog in Bibb County allow for the Statute of Limitations — the time state law spells out for the state to prosecute a case — to run out. 

To understand how these delays affect real cases and why these delays matter, it is essential to first understand what legally constitutes an aggravated assault and how a case moves through the Superior Court system.  

What is Aggravated Assault?

According to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) § 16-5-21, a person commits the offense of aggravated assault when they assault another with the intent to murder, rape, or rob; with a deadly weapon or with any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury; with any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in strangulation or without legal justification by discharging a firearm from within a motor vehicle or after immediately exiting a vehicle toward a person, an occupied vehicle, or occupied building. 

Former Chief Judge of Superior Court for the Macon Judicial Circuit, Howard Simms,  stated that a gun, stick, knife, or in some circumstances your hands and feet can be considered an inherently deadly weapon in regards to the charge of aggravated assault.  In Georgia, aggravated assault is punishable by no less than one year and no more than 20 years in prison, according to O.C.G.A. § 16-5-21. 

What are the steps a felony case goes through as it moves through the Superior Court System in Georgia? 

 1. Investigation / Arrest 

Most felony cases begin with an investigation or an arrest. An arrest occurs if there is probable cause to do so. Bushway explained that probable cause is the, “legal standard that law enforcement must meet to believe that a crime has been committed and that the person being arrested is the one who did it.” 

Defense Attorney Mary Downey added, “A person can be arrested directly following an incident or following an investigation. Once arrested, a person is then fingerprinted and photographed to be booked into the jail system.”  

An investigation is law enforcement’s effort to separate allegations from actual evidence. Bushway explained that for an aggravated assault charge, “Law enforcement compiles a file consisting of a warrant, the criminal history of the person that is being accused or has been arrested, incident reports, witness statements, and any evidence they have gathered from videos and photographs to medical records. Law enforcement then passes this information to the District Attorney’s office so they can decide whether to move forward with a formal accusation or indictment.” 

      2. Indictment 

According to Judge Simms, an indictment is “A probable cause determination made by the county Grand Jury.” 

Bushway explained that one a District Attorney has all the information from law enforcement, they review it and decide if there is evidence to move forward with formal charges.  A  prosecutor will then present the evidence to the county Grand Jury. According to the Bibb County Clerk of Superior Court, the grand jury consists of 23 people who serve six-month terms.

The grand jury decides whether or not to return a “true bill” of indictment, which “is the document that the Grand Jury issues to indicate that they have found enough probable cause that a crime was committed allowing the case to move through the Superior Court system,” Downey said.

      3. Arraignment 

After indictment, the defendant receives notice to appear for an arraignment. An arraignment is when a defendant is brought into court to have the charges read to him or her in open court and they enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, Downey said. According to O.C.G.A. § 17-7-93, the defendant or their counsel must enter their plea. A defendant can also waive a formal arraignment and enter a plea through a court filing.

      4. Discovery 

According to Georgia’s Uniform Superior Court Rules, the defense has 10 days from the arraignment to file motions requesting discovery. Downey explained, “discovery is a culmination of all of the evidence that will come out at trial to prove guilt or innocence” and the state must share what its investigation has collected. Bushway noted that prosecutorial delays often begin while the defense waits to receive the discovery from the state. “The discovery doesn’t come all at one time. Initially, it seems to be delivered piecemeal to the defense lawyer,” Bushway said.

      5. Negotiation and Plea Offers 

While most people see the judicial process as a way to argue a case in court, most felony cases never reach a jury. Once the discovery is received and sometimes shortly before, the attorneys from both sides can start the process of negotiating a plea and a recommended punishment or sanction. The state may offer a plea deal to the defense to present to the defendant. Downey defined this offer as “an offer for the defendant to plead guilty to specific charges in exchange for a lesser sentence or for other charges to be dropped.”  A defendant is not required to take any plea that is offered to them. A defendant can decide to proceed to a jury trial instead of taking an offer from the state, Bushway said. 

      6. Calendar Call

After an arraignment a defendant will eventually be put on the trial calendar for a calendar call, a public check-in of readiness. Downey explained, “A calendar call is a list of cases that the judge would like to determine if the case is ready for trial, the defendant is ready to take a plea, or if there is an issue that requires the judge to intervene.” If a case is not ready to move forward to trial, either attorney can request a continuance. A continuance will push the defendant’s case onto the next trial calendar, sometimes adding weeks or months to  the process.

      7. Trial 

If no plea agreement is reached, a felony case will then proceed to a jury trial. Judge Simms explained the steps of choosing a jury.

“The jury is first qualified, to do this the judge asks a series of statutory questions that are required in all cases. Once the panel or jurors is qualified, then the lawyers from both sides conduct what’s called voir dire,” he said. “The state gets up and they ask questions to the jury panel that are pertinent to their case, without going into a whole lot of fact. The defense lawyer does the same thing. Once all the questions are asked by both sides, they pass the jury list around, and actually select the jury.”

Once the jury is chosen the case proceeds to trial.

Downey detailed each step saying, “The prosecutor starts by giving their opening, then the defense, then leading into the witnesses and presentation of evidence, and finally ending with closing statements given by both sides before the jury instructions are read and they are sent to deliberate.” 

If the jury returns a verdict of not guilty then the case is over, but if the jury returns a verdict of guilty, the case moves forward to sentencing. If the jurors can not come to an agreement, then the case can end in a mistrial. 

       8. Sentencing 

Each felony charge holds different requirements for sentencing. Under O.C.G.A. § 16-5-2,1, an aggravated assault holds a minimum of one year imprisonment up to a maximum of 20 years. Judge Simms explained that sentencing can happen in a number of ways.

“ The judge can go ahead and sentence directly after the verdict or can put it off,” he said. “The defendant has the right to present mitigating evidence, that this is a good guy or this is a good girl, they’ve always done the right thing. The state has the right to present aggravating evidence, which is this person’s horrible, they’ve got two priors, they did the same thing before. And then the judge sentences based on whatever the statutory guidelines are.”

The process from an arrest to the end of the court proceedings can vary.

“Time is not the friend of the prosecutor,” Bushway said. “The longer it takes to bring someone to court and answer to the charges, the more difficult it becomes for the prosecution to achieve a just result. Because as time goes by, the memory of witnesses begins to fade, people move away, people die, evidence gets stale and sometimes lost.”

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