Legal Question in Criminal Law in Georgia

Depending on the severity of the crime, you could serve up to 20 years in prison.

From OCGA 16-5-70:

A person convicted of the offense of cruelty to children in the first degree as provided in this Code section shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than five nor more than 20 years.

A person convicted of the offense of cruelty to children in the second degree shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.

A person convicted of the offense of cruelty to children in the third degree shall be punished as for a misdemeanor upon the first or second conviction. Upon conviction of a third or subsequent offense of cruelty to children in the third degree, the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to a fine not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $5,000.00 or imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than three years or shall be sentenced to both fine and imprisonment.

If you decide to resolve the case without an attorney, you WILL be going into custody. IF you do not go into custody the day of the guilty plea (because you agree to probation), you will go to jail on a probation violation. Your money will either come up short, because you didn't know a $ 1000 turns into $ 1320 with surcharges, or you really didn't believe that you could not leave a message to change your probation date, and your probation officer never called you back, but just took a warrant. Or you did not realize that you could not leave the state of Georgia without your probation officer's permission, even for an emergency death in the family. You don't appreciate what an attorney can do, so you definetly don't understand problems that an experienced attorney can help you avoid. See wesbite for other hints: www.lawrencelewispc.com Good luck