Williams v. State

The bench trial that resulted in the defendant's conviction for driving without a license was fundamentally flawed in that the defendant was not adequately informed of the consequences of proceeding with a bench trial without an attorney and the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction.

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After a fundamentally flawed bench trial which began in the former Recorder’s Court of DeKalb County,1 Kevin Andre Williams was convicted of driving without a drivers license, assessed a substantial fine, and sentenced to jail and a lengthy term of probation. In the course of this trial, Williams was not adequately informed of the consequences of proceeding with a bench trial or of representing himself without an attorney, nor was he adequately informed of the charges against him – which changed mid-trial at the instigation of the prosecutor. Finally, despite all these errors on the part of the trial court and the State which worked to Williams’ disadvantage, the State still failed to present sufficient evidence to support the conviction. We therefore reverse.2

Construed to support the verdict, the record shows that Williams initially was stopped by a DeKalb County police officer for speeding. The officer did not cite him for speeding, however, but simply gave him a warning. During the traffic stop, Williams presented a valid Florida drivers’ license to the officer. But the officer testified that upon running him he discovered that Williams’ privilege in Georgia was not valid. . . and he was written a citation for . . . not having a license.3 The officer testified that he explained to Williams that even though his Florida license was valid, he could not drive in Georgia per . . . the Department of Driver Services. No further explanation was offered as to the reason for the purported invalidity. The officer testified that Williams told him he did live in Georgia and had for awhile; prompted by the prosecutor, the officer agreed that Williams had been living in Georgia for more than 30 days. The officer told Williams that he could’ve went to jail and instructed him that he needed to get a Georgia license.4

Williams v. State

The bench trial that resulted in the defendant's conviction for driving without a license was fundamentally flawed in that the defendant was not adequately informed of the consequences of proceeding with a bench trial without an attorney and the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction.

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