Court Opinion

ID: 9615119
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:31:26.566427+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:45.456851
License: Public Domain

Thompson, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the opinion of the court. I write separately, however, to voice my concerns about the Sandstrom35 error in this case.
All too often, this Court has been called upon to determine whether the giving of a Sandstrom charge in a particular case is harmless error. There is no good reason why the court should have to undertake this exercise. After all, Sandstrom has long been the law, and this Court has long held that a charge which can be construed as a mandatory presumption is error.36 Accordingly, I beseech the trial judges of this State to eliminate the Sandstrom charge from their charge books. Simply put, the charge is erroneous and should not be given.

 Sandstrom v. Montana, 442 U. S. 510 (99 SC 2450, 61 LE2d 39) (1979).

 See Trenor v. State, 252 Ga. 264, 265 (313 SE2d 482) (1984).