What is the defense for failure to obey a lawful order under Georgia law?
A charge of failing to obey a lawful order in Georgia generally depends on whether an order was lawful and whether a person failed to comply with it. A defense turns on two things: whether the order was lawful and what actually happened when the person was said to have disobeyed it.
The lawfulness of the order is central. The offense generally requires that an order was lawful, so where an order exceeded lawful authority, that can bear on the charge. Whether the order was actually lawful is examined as a starting point.
Notably, the nature of the alleged failure is examined. What weight a person actually failed to comply, and the circumstances of any noncompliance, carries is part of the inquiry. What the person actually did is examined.
The clarity of the order can be relevant. Whether an order was clear enough to be understood and followed can bear on whether a failure to comply occurred. The clarity and communication of the order are examined where relevant.
Defending a failure-to-obey charge generally focuses on the lawfulness of the order, the nature of the alleged failure, and the clarity of the order. A defense of this kind rests on the lawfulness of the order, whether the person truly failed to comply, and whether the order was clear enough to follow. An order that was unclear, or that exceeded what the law allowed, gives a person solid ground to contest a charge built on disobeying it.