As moving violations go, driving

with an expired tag is more likely to net you a fine from the court than

jail time.

But for Clinton Keyton of Riverdale,

the infraction netted the maximum penalty: a 12-month jail sentence from

Fayette County State Court Judge Fletcher Sams. And while Keyton's family

has argued the sentence was too harsh, Sams' ruling was upheld by the

Georgia Court of Appeals.

"To receive such a sentence

on the facts of this case would not be unusual," said State Court

Solicitor Steve Harris, noting that driving with an expired tag is a relatively

minor traffic offense.

Keyton, 22, was originally

pulled over by a Fayette County sheriff's deputy for the tag violation

on Kenwood Road near Ga. Highway 314 at 1:45 a.m. Oct. 21 of last year.

After the vehicle was impounded, deputies found Keyton had a wig in the

vehicle with a ski mask and box cutter underneath the seat. He was also

wearing a second layer of clothes under a dark jogging shirt and jogging

pants, and his passenger Marcus Franklin was also wearing a second layer

of clothes.

Keyton claimed the wig was

for Halloween, which wasn't for 10 days, and that the ski mask was issued

to him during a job at a cold storage facility (the appeals court noted

Keyton held that job for just three weeks approximately six months prior

to the arrest).

That evidence was taken into

account by Sams during the sentencing phase even though the prowling charge

had to be dropped against Keyton due to a technicality and he pled guilty

to the expired tag charge.

The appeals court noted that

at the time of the arrest, Keyton was on probation for armed robbery and

Franklin was awaiting trial on a similar charge.

Keyton and Franklin originally

told deputies that they were lost in the area while looking for the home

of a girl they met over the Internet. While they didn't have written directions,

they claimed they had memorized them.

A deputy even drove the pair

around in an effort to locate the girl's home to no avail, Harris said.

Franklin's appeal of his conviction

was also recently denied by the Georgia Court of Appeals.

After the conviction, Judge

Sams granted Keyton bond while the case was appealed, but Keyton was required

to wear an electronic monitoring device until the appeal was resolved.

During that bond hearing in

February, Sams noted that the sentence "on its face would appear

inappropriate" but he felt compelled "to look at all the mitigating

and aggravating factors in the case."

"The court believed at

the time at the trial and believes now that Mr. Keyton and Mr. Franklin

were actually both prowling at the time and, furthermore, believes that

they were prowling with intent to commit a felony in the area," Sams

said. "Therefore, I still think it is an appropriate sentence in

the case."

The appeals court agreed, saying

the evidence from the prowling charge still applied to the expired tag

charge on Keyton because the offenses were related by occurring at the

same time.

"The trial court clearly

found aggravating circumstances sufficient to justify imposing the maximum

sentence," wrote appeals court judge Frank M. Eldridge, who noted

the sentence was "within statutorily permissible bounds."

Back

to News Home Page |