Reversed – Fleeing and Eluding Statute Not Followed Precisely

On January 28, 2025, in Chambers v. State (2025), the Supreme Court of Georgia addressed the central part of the Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Police Officer statute – OCGA § 40-6-395(a).

The statute reads as follows:

It shall be unlawful for any driver of a vehicle willfully to fail or refuse to bring his or her vehicle to a stop or otherwise to flee or attempt to elude a pursuing police vehicle or police officer when given a visual or an audible signal to bring the vehicle to a stop. The signal given by the police officer may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer giving such signal shall be in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office, and his or her vehicle shall be appropriately marked showing it to be an official police vehicle.

The prosecutor was not able to prove the last part of the statute – that the officer who signaled Chambers to stop was “in uniform prominently displaying his or her badge of office,” as required by OCGA § 40-6-395 (a).

Facts

Jerry Chambers was involved in a high-speed police chase in Savannah, Georgia. Eventually, the car crashed into another vehicle at an intersection, killing three people.

At trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Chambers was the driver of the car at the time of the crash. The jury ultimately found him guilty of multiple counts, including felony murder predicated on fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.

Analysis and Conclusion

A key issue on appeal was whether the State had proven that the officer who attempted to stop Chambers was in uniform and prominently displaying a badge, as required under Georgia law. The Supreme Court of Georgia found:

1. There was no testimony put forth by the prosecutor that the officer who was involved in the car chase was wearing a uniform or had his badge prominently displayed.

2. Although there were a bunch of officers on scene (as shown through body cameras), there was no testimony that any of those officers were involved in the chase, or whether they just came to the scene after the crash.

3. Some of the officers on the scene weren’t wearing uniforms and were in plain clothes. There is no way to tell who was the officer that was pursuing Chambers during the chase.

The Supreme Court of Georgia found that the State had failed to prove this element beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, the court reversed Chambers’s felony murder convictions that were based on fleeing and eluding.

Key Takeaway:

Prosecutors have a requirement to prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt. And they must prove the elements in the statute in order to obtain a conviction.

Chambers v. State can be found here.

The podcast on this issue can be found here.