A 10-Part GPS Investigative Series
In 2008, the Georgia Supreme Court 4-3 confirmed that defendants could challenge a void conviction under a statute Georgia had carried since 1863. Fourteen months later, after one justice retired, a new 4-3 majority erased the rule. Same statute. Same words. Different result. Article 3 of the No Way Out series.
Maria Montalvo, Sheila Denton, Dasha Fincher: across arson, bite marks, and field drug tests, junk forensic science continues to convict the innocent. Georgia is the national outlier — and almost nothing in state law lets the courts correct the record.
Two existing Georgia statutes — one from 1863, the other containing the most powerful safety-valve language in Georgia law — could unlock post-conviction justice if anyone would enforce them. Article 1 of the “No Way Out” series.