The Georgia Supreme Court (SCOGA) has rejected a Dawson County man’s request to withdraw his guilty plea in the shooting death of his wife in 2019.
The incident occurred July 29, 2019, and was witnessed by several people, including the couple’s two minor children. Immediately after the shooting, Jeremy Wade Gibson surrendered to police and confessed to killing his wife.
A Dawson County Grand Jury indicted Gibson on September 9, 2019, on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, family violence aggravated assault, aggravated assault, terroristic acts, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, cruelty to children in the first degree, and robbery by force.
After the state indicated it would seek the death penalty, Gibson decided to plead guilty but mentally ill, but later asked to withdraw his plea, citing ineffective counsel and a conflict of interest on the part of his lawyer, which was rejected by the trial court. He then appealed to the state supreme court. But the high court on Tuesday rejected his appeal in a unanimous ruling.
You can read the court’s ruling here: s25a0984.pdf