State v. Ball

Hill, Chief Justice.

This case is before this court on certiorari. Ball v. State, 167 Ga. App. 546 (306 SE2d 353) (1983). The certiorari question is whether the verdicts of “not guilty by reason of insanity at the time of the crime” and “guilty but mentally ill at the time of the crime” under OCGA § 17-7-131 (formerly Code Ann. § 27-1503) (see Ga. L. 1982, p. 1476), are inseparable so that when the jury is instructed as to “guilty but mentally ill,” it must also be instructed as to “not guilty by reason of insanity” even when there is no evidence to support a charge on insanity.

George Ball was…