Ga. Supreme Court expedites Genarlow Wilson appeal

<p>Genarlow Wilson will get a hearing before Georgia's top court earlier than expected.</p><p>The state Supreme Court on Monday said they would hear a pair of appeals from Wilson, who's serving a 10-year prison sentence for having oral sex with a fellow teenager, next week. The court reversed its earlier decision not to expedite the case. The justices had initially been scheduled to hear Wilson's appeal in October.</p><p>The court gave no reason for the decision to move the case ahead on the docket.</p><p>A Monroe County judge last month said that Wilson's sentence was "a grave miscarriage of justice" and ordered him released. But state Attorney General Thurbert Baker appealed that decision saying the judge overstepped his bounds. Baker argued the ruling could help free some 1,300 child molesters in Georgia's jails.</p><p>Wilson's lawyer, B.J. Bernstein, has asked for Wilson to be released on bond while the appeal is decided. A Douglas County judge denied that request, saying Wilson's conviction on the charge of aggravated child molestation made him ineligible for bond.</p><p>Bernstein has appealed that decision.</p><p>The state Supreme Court said it would consider both appeals July 20.</p><p>"After considering both requests to expedite the cases, the Court voted to proceed with arguments more than two months earlier than planned," said a statement from the court.</p><p>Bernstein, through a spokeswoman, had no comment.</p><p>Now 21, Wilson is serving a 10-year mandatory sentence for aggravated child molestation stemming from a 2003 New Year's Eve party where he was captured on videotape receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl. The law has since been changed by Georgia lawmakers, but the state's top court said the new law could not be applied retroactively.</p><p>Wilson was also charged in 2003 with raping a 17-year-old girl at the party, but a jury acquitted him of the charges.</p><p>Five other male partygoers accepted plea deals in the case. Wilson has rejected plea offers, including one that would allow him to avoid being listed on Georgia's sex offender registry.</p>