The tension between prosecuting those charged with violating the laws of this state and defending the rights of those accused of having committed crimes sets the stage for the multitude of opinions from the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court in the field of criminal law. As always, we strive to present cases that will assist attorneys in their practice, either by surveying cases that present careful reiteration of age-old principles or by surveying cases that alter old rules or establish new ones. We limit our Article to cases that affect the practice of criminal law but omit criminal law cases that deal with general evidentiary issues and death penalty issues because those specific issues are addressed in other survey a...