maybe it's not ok to shoot photographers in Georgia after all

[Robert Roaldi]

Update on court case in Georgia about a real estate photographer who was shot by the home owner, https://petapixel.com/2020/06/08/georgia-court-revives-lawsuit-by-real-estate-photographer-who-was-shot-by-homeowner/. Sounds like they might re-examine the earlier judgement.

[Jeremy Roussak]

It would appear from the new report (I've not had time to read the appellate decision in full) to have been a quite bizarrely misguided decision by the court at first instance. There's what I think is a vaguely analogous procedure in England but the request couldn't possibly be so weirdly misunderstood.

Jeremy

[John Camp]

Doe the fact that "stupid" and "braindead" appeared in a legal paper filed with a court preclude the possibly of a slander/libel suit?

I do think the photographer probably should have knocked loudly before entering (even if he believed the house was empty) and once inside should have called out a few times, to confirm the emptiness.

[Chris Kern]

It would appear from the new report (I've not had time to read the appellate decision in full) to have been a quite bizarrely misguided decision by the court at first instance.

I briefly scanned the opinion, and decided it wasn't interesting enough to read.  The trial court dismissed the photographer's claim with respect to the real estate agency that contracted for his services (not the homeowner who shot him) on a motion by the latter for summary judgment.  The summary judgment was entered, and reversed, on procedural grounds.  You can find the appellate opinion here, if you are inclined to invest the time.

In the state of Georgia, judges are elected.  Enough said.

[rabanito]

One commentator writes
"Just as with target shooting, you must have a visual of three things: the foreground, the target, and beyond the target. You don't shoot until all three are safe to do so. The handgun gives you the power to wait: lock your door and get on the far side of the room. Shooting through a closed door is going to be a bad move nearly 100% of the time."
Seems reasonable to me

[kers]

This is a whole new reality for me... Georgia must be a very unsafe part of the US....