DA group asks Supreme Court to reconsider Dixon ruling
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Posted 6:54AM on Thursday, May 20, 2004
ATLANTA - The District Attorneys' Association of Georgia is asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to clear a high school football player of sexual assault charges that would have kept him imprisoned for ten years. <br>
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The group claims in its legal brief Wednesday that the court set a dangerous precedent when it ruled 4-to-3 on May 3 that Marcus Dixon should have only been charged with misdemeanor statutory rape, not the more serious crime of aggravated child molestation. <br>
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A marijuana dealer could say he should only be charged with possession; an armed robber could contend he's only a petty thief. <br>
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The brief, filed by association president N. Stanley Gunter, said "This decision could effectively eliminate a felony sentence upon conviction of such a crime.'' <br>
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Dixon's cause drew national attention because his supporters said he was targeted for being a black man who had sex with a white girl after school. At the time, he was 18 and she was 15.