Consolidated Management Services, Inc. v. Halligan

I dissent from the holding of the majority that plaintiffs’ claims are not estopped by the criminal conviction of plaintiff Ray Guthrie. The rule set forth in Pierce v. Pierce, 241 Ga. 96, 100 (243 SE2d 46) (1978), “that a judgment of conviction or acquittal rendered in a criminal prosecution cannot be given in evidence in a purely civil action, to establish the truth of the facts on which it was rendered,” clearly applies where, as in Pierce, the defendant in a negligence action seeks to introduce the dismissal or acquittal on criminal charges as evidence of lack of negligence. See, e.g.,…