An African-American businessman who has been in prison for a 2005 shooting in Cobb County could go free after a judge concluded that John McNeil received ineffective assistance of counsel during his trial.
Georgia Superior Court Judge Hulane George granted McNeil a writ of habeas corpus on September 25th. Habeas corpus petitions allege that an individual’s custody is unconstitutional based upon what occurred prior to, or during, the individual’s trial or plea hearing. McNeil’s Attorney Mark Yurachek says the judge made the ruling because the jury was not informed about certain principles of law, which applied to his case.
“Among the principles of law that they were not informed of was that John had the right to protect his home with deadly force if necessary against an individual who was on his property and was either about to commit or threatening to commit a forcible felony.”
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