Brashier Ruling

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Georgia Court of Appeals announced its decision this week to uphold the conviction of Dennis Blair Brashier who was found guilty of Kidnapping a Douglas County woman. Brashier was convicted by a Douglas County jury on January 18, 2008 of Kidnapping with bodily injury and Thefy by Taking of a motor vehicle. “I am extremely pleased with the Court’s decision in this case,” stated District Attorney David McDade.

According to evidence presented at trial by Assistant District Attorney Eddie Barker, Brashier convinced a young woman to drive him to his grandmother’s house where he was living at the time. Once they arrived at the house, Brashier kidnapped the woman and tied her to a pole in his grandmother’s basement. Brashier kept the victim in the basement for several hours. Eventually, he tied the victim’s hands and feet together and carried her to a corner of the basement to conceal her. There he placed duct tape over her mouth and nose to keep her from alerting Brashier’s grandmother who was upstairs. Brashier then took the victim’s vehicle and fled the State.

After conducting a nationwide manhunt, law enforcement officials located Brashier in a Casino in Mississippi.

Superior Court Judge David T. Emerson imposed a mandatory sentence of Life in Prison without the possibility of parole. Brashier had several prior felony convictions which required him to be treated as a repeat offender.

Brashier appealed his conviction to the Georgia Court of Appeals arguing that the court should throw out his kidnapping conviction based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in a prior case, State v. Garza. In the Garza case, the defendant held a child at gun point and moved him to several different rooms inside the child’s home, using the child as a shield from the police. However, the Court ruled that ‘slight movement’ of a victim does not mean kidnapping and the Supreme Court reversed Garza’s kidnapping conviction.

As a result of the Garza decision, District Attorney David McDade, along with several other District Attorney’s throughout the State, worked with State Legislators during this past legislative session to produce a bill that would clearly define kidnapping. As a result, House Bill 575 was introduced by Representative Rich Golick (R-Cobb), and was passed by the House and Senate and was signed into law by the Governor.

“With the ruling in the Garza case, the Supreme Court ignored 40 years of case law and instead implemented its own test for what should be used to determine if kidnapping has actually occurred,” stated McDade. “The new test that the Supreme Court implemented in the Garza case put a grossly unfair burden on the prosecutor’s to prove kidnapping.”

“I believe that if you hold someone against their will, regardless of how far you actually move them, then it is still kidnapping and the legislators agreed,” stated McDade.