Defendant Acquitted of All Charges in Self-Defense Murder Case

Eastman, Georgia: In February 2022, attorney J. Travis Griffin obtained an acquittal in a murder case pending in Dodge County Superior Court. Mr. Griffin convinced the jury that the Defendant acted in self-defense when he had to kill his own brother with a handgun.

The Defendant in this case suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of his brother for years. In November 2019, the Defendant called law enforcement on his brother after his brother assaulted him. Law enforcement refused to do anything about the situation and left the Defendant in the house with his violent brother. After law enforcement left the house, the Defendant’s brother attacked the Defendant while wielding a shotgun. The Defendant pushed the shotgun aside and killed his brother with a contact-range gunshot to the head.

The Defendant was arrested and incarcerated for over a year before he was granted a bond.

At trial, Mr. Griffin thoroughly cross-examined three forensic experts from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, showing how the Defendant’s version of events is the only version that fit within the known facts. The autopsy, blood spatter, and evidence from the scene all supported the Defendant’s story of self-defense. The Defendant took the stand in his own defense and told the jury about the horrible events of the night he had to take his brother’s life in self-defense.

After a five-day trial, the jury found the Defendant not guilty on all counts.