Sometimes
all
it
takes
is
one
bad
decision
to
end
a
career
—
and
a
life.
A
Georgia
lawyer
was
recently
sentenced
to
life
behind
bars
with
the
possibility
of
parole
after
he
struck
and
killed
a
man
who
bounced
a
golf
ball
that
hit
the
lawyer’s
Mercedes.
Bryan
Keith
Schmitt,
51,
senior
counsel
at
Manhattan
Associates,
a
software
development
company,
was
convicted
earlier
this
week
of
malice
murder,
felony
murder,
and
aggravated
assault
in
the
death
of
real
estate
developer
Hamid
Jahangard,
60.
Law360
has
the
details
on
what
happened:
The
incident
occurred
around
5:30
p.m.
on
July
30,
2019,
on
River
Valley
Road
in
the
Sandy
Springs
neighborhood
of
metropolitan
Atlanta.
Jahangard
had
been
on
the
phone
and
bouncing
a
golf
ball
while
standing
at
the
driveway
to
one
of
his
investment
properties,
prosecutor
Pat
Dutcher
of
the
Fulton
County
District
Attorney’s
Office
said.Dutcher
said
Schmitt,
who
was
on
his
way
home
from
work,
acted
“out
of
anger”
and
accused
Jahangard
of
throwing
the
golf
ball
at
his
car
instead
of
approaching
the
situation
calmly.
Schmitt
knew
that
he
was
too
far
forward
in
the
road
to
make
a
clean
90-degree
turn
into
the
driveway,
Dutcher
said.
As
a
result
of
the
incident,
Jahangard’s
leg
was
broken
and
his
skull
was
fractured.
He
died
from
his
injuries
two
days
later.
Schmitt
testified
that
he
didn’t
see
Jahangard
as
he
“slammed
on
his
brakes,”
and
merely
wanted
to
question
the
man
about
the
golf
ball.
He
said
that
he’d
beaten
himself
up
over
the
“tragic
accident”
for
more
than
three
years.
Schmitt
stated
that
he
never
intended
to
intimidate,
harm,
or
kill
Jahangard.
Schmitt’s
lawyer
—
his
own
criminal
law
professor
—
noted
that
his
former
student
had
never
committed
a
crime
and
had
no
motive.
He
reportedly
told
jurors
that
only
a
“psychopath”
would
intentionally
run
someone
over
in
broad
daylight
when
so
many
witnesses
were
present.
Schmitt
received
his
life
sentence
the
same
day
he
was
convicted.
He’ll
be
eligible
for
parole
when
he’s
81
years
old.
In-house
lawyer
will
be
eligible
for
parole
at
81
after
conviction
for
fatal
car
collision
[ABA
Journal]
Ga.
Atty
Gets
Life
Sentence
After
Murder
Conviction
[Law360]
Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
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