Edvalson v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseThomas Edvalson was tried by jury and found guilty of 22 counts of sexual exploitation of children, for possession of 11 digital images depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. With respect to each digital image, he was found guilty of both possession and possession with intent to distribute. At sentencing, the trial court merged the "simple" possession counts under OCGA 16-12-100(b)(8) into the counts of possession with intent to distribute under subsection (b)(5), and sentenced Edvalson on the remaining 11 counts to a total of 60 years, with 19 to be served in prison. Edvalson appealed, asserting, among other enumerations of error, that the trial court erred in failing to merge his convictions into a single count. The Court of Appeals affirmed in an unpublished opinion, concluding that OCGA 16-12-100(b)(5) permitted a defendant to be separately convicted and sentenced for each of the images in his possession. The Georgia Supreme Court granted review to consider whether the Court of Appeals erred in failing to merge the remaining 11 convictions under (b)(5) into a single conviction. In accordance with Coates v. Georgia, 818 SE2d 622 (2018), the Court concluded the plain language of OCGA 16-12-100(b)(5), interpreted in the context of the entire statute, was unambiguous and permitted only one prosecution and conviction for a single act of possession of child pornography, regardless of the number of images depicted. The Court therefore reversed the Court of Appeals and remanded the case for further proceedings.
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