UPSON COUNTY, Ga. — An man was convicted on multiple charges, including homicide by vehicle, after a fatal crash.
Robert Joseph Folks was convicted by an Upson County jury on Aug. 18 on charges he’d killed a man in a crash while driving under the influence of alcohol in 2021.
Folks had a blood alcohol content more than twice the legal limit at the time of the crash, officials said.
The crash killed John S. Talmadge, according to the Upson County District Attorney’s Office.
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The incident happened when Folks, while driving under the influence, collided head-on with Talmadge’s vehicle on Delray Road.
“Vehicular homicides based on DUIs are such senseless tragedies,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Audrey D. Holliday said. “Let this conviction and sentence be a warning to anyone that makes such poor choices,” said District Attorney Marie G. Broder.
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During the trial, Folks claimed to be a “sovereign citizen” and did not participate in his defense, aside from making an opening statement challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Folks lost control of his vehicle, causing him to enter the lane of oncoming traffic.
Trooper C. Jones of the Georgia State Patrol was the lead officer in the investigation. He told the court that he had conducted a DUI investigation following the crash.
During the investigation, Folks refused to submit to a state-administered test of his blood, leading to a search warrant being obtained to collect his blood sample.
The GSP’s accident reconstruction determined that road conditions and vehicle issues did not contribute to the crash.
Additional evidence showed that Folks had been arrested for DUI seven months before the fatal incident.
Folks was convicted on two counts of homicide by vehicle in the first degree, driving under the influence per se, driving under the influence less safe, homicide by vehicle in the second degree and failure to maintain lane.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
“I am very proud of my Upson County office for their prosecution of this case. It is imperative that the citizens of Upson County know it is not okay to drink and drive. Let this conviction and sentence be a warning to anyone that makes such poor choices that we will stand by the families of the victims seeking justice and we will prosecute DUIs like any other case,” District Attorney Marie G. Broder said in a statement.
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