ELLIJAY, Ga. – A shooting on July 8, 2017, is finally moving towards a close in the court system with Douglas Edwin Pritchett being found guilty on all counts yesterday, March 7, 2019.
As originally reported by FYN in “Fatal Shooting in Gilmer County involves GBI,” Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson stated that deputies responded to the 911 call from Douglas Pritchett, 43, claiming his home was being invaded and he had shot the invader. Involving the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the two agencies moved forward in the investigations.
Reports from the indictments of the case indicate that Danly was shot in the face, back, and chest.
The guilty verdict “on all counts” refers to the multiple charges listed including one count of Malice Murder, three counts of Felony Murder, one count of Aggravated Assault Intent to Murder, one count of Aggravated Assault, one count of Aggravated Battery.
Each of these charges derived from the single altercation between Pritchett and his victim, Richard Danly, 53 at the time of the shooting.
Jury selection for the case began last Thursday, February 28, and opening statements began on Friday, March 1, The case was presided over by Senior Judge C.J. Gober, previously the Chief State Court Judge of Cherokee County.
As the case progressed this week, it reached it’s initial conclusion yesterday, March 7, when the Jury took the case for deliberation at 3:00 p.m. and returned at 5:45 p.m. with their verdict.
It is also FYN’s understanding that while Danley’s mother, who is in her 80’s, was unable to attend the trial due to health issues, she did say she was very relieved when she was told of the verdict.
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It was not a fair trial. The judge poisoned the jury's mind by allowing evidence in from years ago. Anything the defense attorney objected to was over ruled! Family members of the defendant were not allowed to sit on the front seat but family members of the deceased were allowed too. DA Spencer is a pompus loud mouth that can talk for an hour and not say anything worthwhile. The judge had a day and a half to catch up on something that had been going on for 19 months. It should have been postponed until Judge Worcester got back.