Rachals v. State

Weltner, Justice.

Terri Rachals was found guilty but mentally ill of the crime of aggravated assault. She was sentenced to twenty years in prison, and the Court of Appeals affirmed her conviction. Rachals v. State, 184 Ga. App. 420 (361 SE2d 671) (1987). We granted certiorari to determine whether there was a psychiatrist-patient relationship between Rachals and a certain physician that would have prohibited his testimony on behalf of the state.

The record establishes that the physician testified only at a Jackson-Denno hearing, from which the jury was excluded. The issue at that hearing was the…