Georgia 2025-2026 Regular Session

Georgia House Bill HR129 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	25 LC 60 0052
2	2	House Resolution 129
3	3	By: Representatives Dempsey of the 13
4	4	th
5	5	, Barton of the 5
6	6	th
7	7	, and Lumsden of the 12
8	8	th
9	9
10	10	A RESOLUTION
11	11	Compensating Mr. Daryl Lee Clark; and for other purposes.
12	12	1
13	13	WHEREAS, on October 18, 1996, fifteen-year-old Brian Bowling tragically lost his life2
14	14	while playing "Russian Roulette" with his friend, seventeen-year-old Cain Joshua Storey, in3
15	15	the bedroom of Mr. Bowling's home in Floyd County, Georgia; and4
16	16	WHEREAS, despite compelling evidence that Mr. Bowling's death was self-inflicted and the5
17	17	absence of evidence demonstrating that Mr. Bowling's death was a homicide, Floyd County6
18	18	law enforcement began to investigate Mr. Bowling's death as a homicide after members of7
19	19	the Bowling family exerted pressure on law enforcement to do so; and8
20	20	WHEREAS, several months later, seventeen-year-old Daryl Lee Clark, an acquaintance of9
21	21	Mr. Bowling, was arrested, and both he and Mr. Storey were charged with the murder and10
22	22	conspiracy to commit the murder of Mr. Bowling; and11
23	23	WHEREAS, Mr. Clark repeatedly and unwaveringly maintained his innocence and the only12
24	24	evidence against Mr. Clark came through two witnesses at trial, who were both improperly13
25	25	influenced by law enforcement and ultimately determined to be unreliable; and14
26	26	H. R. 129
27	27	- 1 - 25 LC 60 0052
28	28	WHEREAS, one of the State's two key witnesses was Angela Bruce, who claimed that during
29	29	15
30	30	a party at her home after Mr. Bowling's death, she heard Mr. Storey say he had shot and16
31	31	killed Mr. Bowling, and heard Mr. Clark say he was present at the time of the shooting; and17
32	32	WHEREAS, the second of the State's two key witnesses was Charlie Childers, a functionally18
33	33	illiterate and severely hearing and speech impaired man with limited and unique sign19
34	34	language skills, whose trial communications were presented through a standard sign language20
35	35	interpreter and then supplemented with assertions made by a Floyd County Police detective,21
36	36	leaving the jury with information that Mr. Childers had seen a person named "Daryl" flee22
37	37	from Mr. Bowling's yard immediately after the shooting, and that Mr. Childers had identified23
38	38	Mr. Clark in a police photo lineup; and24
39	39	WHEREAS, on January 19, 1998, Mr. Clark and Mr. Storey were both convicted of murder25
40	40	and conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; and26
41	41	WHEREAS, in late 2021 during an independent investigation, it came to light that police27
42	42	suppressed and failed to turn over evidence that, though they had spoken to other party28
43	43	guests, not a single person confirmed Ms. Bruce's story; and in late 2021, Ms. Bruce admitted29
44	44	for the first time to reporters and the Georgia Innocence Project that her incriminating30
45	45	testimony concerning Mr. Clark's and Mr. Storey's admissions was false and made under31
46	46	duress at the hands of law enforcement, who threatened to take away her children and had32
47	47	shared their plan with the Bowling family; and33
48	48	WHEREAS, the independent investigation further established for the first time that Mr.34
49	49	Childers's translator at Mr. Clark's trial later questioned the accuracy of her own translation35
50	50	of Mr. Childers's testimony, and regretted providing the translation at trial, because Mr.36
51	51	Childers's manner of communication was not standard American Sign Language, but instead37
52	52	H. R. 129
53	53	- 2 - 25 LC 60 0052
54	54	a communication method unique to Mr. Childers and his former teacher (an ASL expert who
55	55	38
56	56	knew and understood Mr. Childers's unique communication method, having worked with him39
57	57	from the time he has been a child); and40
58	58	WHEREAS, through interpretation by a new translator (his former teacher) in 2021, it was41
59	59	made clear for the first time that Mr. Childers had never identified Mr. Clark in a photo42
60	60	lineup as fleeing from the scene, had never marked Mr. Clark's photo with an "X" during the43
61	61	lineup as the police detective had claimed at trial, had never identified Mr. Clark as running44
62	62	through the Bowling's yard when Mr. Bowling was shot, and had never seen anyone outside45
63	63	the Bowling's residence at the time of the shooting; and46
64	64	WHEREAS, the 2021 independent investigation also revealed for the first time that the lead47
65	65	police investigator in the case was having a sexual relationship with a member of Mr.48
66	66	Bowling's family at the time that he decided, at the Bowling family's request, to investigate49
67	67	the case as a homicide and to pursue Mr. Clark as a primary suspect; and50
68	68	WHEREAS, based upon this newly discovered evidence of police misconduct, the51
69	69	withholding of critical and material evidence, false testimony, and grounds of actual52
70	70	innocence, on September 16, 2022, Georgia Innocence Project lawyers filed an Extraordinary53
71	71	Motion for New Trial (EMNT) and a petition for a writ of habeas corpus; and54
72	72	WHEREAS, on December 8, 2022, Mr. Clark's convictions were overturned and vacated by55
73	73	the Superior Court of Floyd County, which granted the EMNT in a consent order prepared56
74	74	by Mr. Clark's attorneys and the District Attorney's Office for the Rome Judicial Circuit57
75	75	stating that the newly discovered evidence called into question the accuracy of the testimony58
76	76	of the State's two critical witnesses; and59
77	77	H. R. 129
78	78	- 3 - 25 LC 60 0052
79	79	WHEREAS, on that same date, the District Attorney's Office for the Rome Judicial Circuit
80	80	60
81	81	sought, and a Floyd County Superior Court Judge granted, dismissal of all charges against61
82	82	Mr. Clark based upon evidentiary considerations; and62
83	83	WHEREAS, after more than twenty-five years of wrongful imprisonment by the State of63
84	84	Georgia, Mr. Clark was finally exonerated and freed from his incarceration on December 8,64
85	85	2022; and65
86	86	WHEREAS, as a result of his wrongful imprisonment, Mr. Clark was deprived of his66
87	87	irreplaceable, God-given, and constitutionally guaranteed rights to liberty, freedom of67
88	88	speech, movement, association and worship, and robbed in his pursuit of happiness, family68
89	89	life, and belonging and contributing to his community; and69
90	90	WHEREAS, Mr. Clark suffered personal injury, lost wages, injury to his reputation, health,70
91	91	emotional trauma, psychiatric injury, and suffered the daily deprivations, fears, risks and71
92	92	indignities of imprisonment, and other damages as a result of his wrongful incarceration; and72
93	93	WHEREAS, during his imprisonment, Mr. Clark obtained his GED and took a variety of73
94	94	adult education courses, dedicated himself to cultivating stronger and sustained relationships74
95	95	with his family in the unnatural prison setting, and, upon release has become active in his75
96	96	church community and the Georgia exoneree community, providing both support to other76
97	97	victims of wrongful imprisonment and heightening awareness about the causes and77
98	98	consequences of wrongful incarceration through his volunteer work with the Georgia78
99	99	Innocence Project; and79
100	100	WHEREAS, the conviction, incarceration, and subsequent loss of liberty and other damages80
101	101	suffered by Mr. Clark occurred through no fault or negligence on his part, and it is only81
102	102	H. R. 129
103	103	- 4 - 25 LC 60 0052
104	104	fitting, just, and proper that he be compensated for his losses in the amount of $75,000.00 for
105	105	82
106	106	each year of wrongful imprisonment; and83
107	107	WHEREAS, Georgia is one of only eleven states that does not have a statutory regime for84
108	108	compensating innocent individuals who have been exonerated following wrongful conviction85
109	109	and incarceration; and86
110	110	WHEREAS, this lack of a statutory regime for compensation requires introduction of a87
111	111	private resolution to secure such compensation in Georgia.88
112	112	NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF89
113	113	GEORGIA that the Department of Administrative Services is authorized and directed to pay90
114	114	the sum of $1,917,128.00 to Mr. Daryl Lee Clark as compensation as provided above. Said91
115	115	sum shall be paid from funds appropriated to or available to the Department of92
116	116	Administrative Services and shall be paid subject to the provisions of this resolution. After93
117	117	an initial payment of $632,652.00, the remainder of said sum shall be paid immediately into94
118	118	a commercial annuity account bearing interest at the prevailing market rate, payable in equal95
119	119	monthly installments over ten years beginning in 2026 with interest payable to Mr. Daryl Lee96
120	120	Clark. The State of Georgia shall be entitled to a credit equal to the amount it pays under this97
121	121	resolution should Mr. Daryl Lee Clark recover damages as a result of a lawsuit against any98
122	122	state official or employee acting in an official capacity whose tort liability for wrongful99
123	123	conviction arises from the same circumstances as described herein, less any attorney's fees100
124	124	or costs Mr. Daryl Lee Clark paid in obtaining those damages. Should Mr. Daryl Lee Clark101
125	125	recover damages totaling less than the amount the State of Georgia pays under this102
126	126	resolution, the State of Georgia shall be entitled to a partial credit no greater than the amount103
127	127	of damages Mr. Daryl Lee Clark recovers less any attorney's fees or costs Mr. Daryl Lee104
128	128	Clark paid in obtaining those damages. Upon the death of Mr. Daryl Lee Clark, all payments105
129	129	H. R. 129
130	130	- 5 - 25 LC 60 0052
131	131	and all obligations of the State of Georgia regarding any and all future payments with
132	132	106
133	133	respect to the annuity shall continue to be made to his estate or heirs.107
134	134	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any amount received by Mr. Daryl Lee Clark pursuant108
135	135	to this resolution shall be excluded from his taxable net income for state income tax109
136	136	purposes.110
137	137	H. R. 129
138	138	- 6 -