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KH OUR REGION
John Chambliss| Managing Editor
770-718-3407 | news@gainesvilletimes.com
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia
Midweek Edition-March 1-2, 2023
Ga. high court ruling may affect Hall case
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Editor’s note: This published in
a previous E-Paper edition and is
being provided here for print-only
readers.
A footnote in a Georgia Supreme
Court opinion may affect a Hall
County medical malpractice case
in which a jury previously granted
a $3 million verdict against North
east Georgia Medical Center,
according to court documents.
A Hall County Superior Court
jury granted a $3 million verdict
March 23, 2021, favoring the fam
ily of Frances “Suzi” Mitchell, 42,
of Jackson County. Mitchell’s two
adult children were listed as the
plaintiffs against Northeast Geor
gia Health System, the medical
center and Dr. Andrew Green.
The original lawsuit claimed
Green pierced Mitchell’s small
intestine during a May 3,2016, sur
gery to remove an ovarian mass.
Mitchell died four days later.
“An autopsy revealed that a
small perforation or hole in her
bowel had caused an abdominal
infection, resulting in her death,”
according to a summary from the
Georgia Court of Appeals. “The
medical examiner who conducted
the autopsy concluded that the per
foration occurred during the sur
gery performed by Green.”
The Georgia Court of Appeals
vacated the judgment in March
2022, ruling that Mitchell’s
estranged husband was the proper
party to file the wrongful death
claim.
The Georgia Supreme Court
granted review to consider a
Thomas County wrongful death
medical malpractice case, Hamon
v. Connell. The wrongful death case
was brought by the deceased man’s
daughter instead of his wife, who
had been separated from the man
for some time.
The high court reviewed the case
to see if the trial court made a mis
take in allowing the man’s daughter
to pursue the wrongful death case.
The Georgia Court of Appeals pre
viously reversed the trial court’s
decision regarding Connell, which
was used to decide Mitchell’s case.
The Wrongful Death Act in Geor
gia states that a decedent’s child
or children can pursue a claim if
there is no surviving spouse.
“However ... under certain cir
cumstances, Georgia courts have
applied equitable principles to
allow someone other than the dece
dent’s surviving spouse to pursue a
wrongful death claim to benefit a
decedent’s children,” the Georgia
Supreme Court justices wrote in
their unanimous opinion on Feb. 7.
In a footnote before the last page
of the opinion, the justices wrote
that they “overrule” the Northeast
Georgia Medical Center ruling
that relied on the Georgia Court of
Appeals prior ruling in the Connell
case
The attorney for Mitchell’s fam
ily, Kenneth Lewis, filed a motion
Feb. 16 to reinstate the March 2021
verdict citing the Connell case.
Lewis also filed an amicus brief
for the Georgia Supreme Court’s
consideration in the Connell case,
according to a footnote in the
court’s decision.
Typically, a ruling like the Feb.
7 opinion would apply to all subse
quent cases.
Lewis, however, argued in his
motion that this falls under an
exception when an “interpretation
of the law involves a statute that
has been interpreted differently by
the Georgia Supreme Court.”
“In addition, neither side would
be inappropriately injured by the
reinstatement of the judgment,”
Lewis wrote. “Reinstatement con
serves judicial resources as well.”
Attorney M. Scott Bailey, who
is representing the health system,
wrote in an email to The Times that
he was not authorized to comment
“beyond saying that we disagree
with the premise that the decision
‘overturns’” the case.
NGHS spokesman Sean Couch
said the hospital would not add
anything beyond Bailey’s response
to The Times over email.
‘This is a major project’
■
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Signage warns motorists along Ga. 211 Monday, Feb. 27, near I-85 of construction for a road-widening project.
Work underway off Ga. 211 in Braselton aimed at widening road
Pipe is stacked along Ga. 211 across from Chateau Elan Monday, Feb. 27, near i-85 where a road-
widening project has begun.
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Editor’s note: This published
in a previous E-Paper edition
and is being provided here for
print-only readers.
Work has started on a stretch
of heavily congested Old Winder
Highway/Ga. 211 in Braselton.
The $25.5 million project calls
for widening the road from two
to four lanes between Pinot Noir
Drive and Interstate 85.
The project, expected to be
completed by Oct. 31, 2025, will
include a 5 3/4-foot sidewalk
on the east side of a bridge on
Ga. 211, as well as multi-lane
roundabouts at 1-85 and Tour de
France, a road leading to Cha
teau Elan resort.
“This is a major project, and
the first part of it has begun
with the clearing and grubbing
(of trees and vegetation) on the
sides of the road,” said Eliza
beth Johnson, Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation district
spokeswoman.
Moving utilities, including
lines and poles, is expected to
take 7-8 months, depending on
the weather, she said.
“The town has worked very
hard in partnership with the
Georgia Department of Trans
portation to get this project to
construction,” Braselton Town
Manager Jennifer Scott has said
about the project.
Ga. 211 in Braselton is a busy,
fast-developing road, intersect
ing in Hall County with Friend
ship Road/Ga. 347, which leads
to Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Braselton, which is under
going a $565 million expansion.
A huge, multi-use develop
ment, Braselton Village, is being
graded off Ga. 211 near Pinot
Noir Drive. The development
will feature a 187,647-square-
foot shopping center, including a
Lowe’s home improvement store
and five outparcels, on 32 acres.
So, more traffic is likely to
come to the area.
Scott has said Braselton
intends to continue working with
GDOT to widen Ga. 211 from
Pinot Noir to Friendship Road
“in anticipation that we can get
that project to award as soon as
possible.”
Plans also call for Ga. 211 to
be widened in Hall from Friend
ship Road to Winder Highway/
Ga. 53. The project, estimated to
cost $92 million overall, has been
set for 2026-30, according to the
Gainesville-Hell Metropolitan
Planning Organization.
Development also is expected
to boom on the Hall side of Ga.
211.
Work has started on Rev
eille, a planned 512-acre mixed-
use development across from
Union Church Road, and an
8,000-square-foot retail spec
building off Ga. 211 and Union
Church was approved in Febru
ary by Hall County’s Board of
Commissioners.
Florida man
gets 30 years
for molesting
girls in Hall
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Editor’s note: This published in
a previous E-Paper edition and is
being provided here for print-only
readers.
A Florida man accused of molest
ing two girls under the age of 10 was
found guilty Friday, Feb. 24, by a
Hall County jury, according to court
documents.
Jonathan Mar
shall Wallace, 34, of
New Port Richey,
Florida, was
indicted in January
2020 on two counts
of aggravated child
molestation, three
counts of child
molestation and
one count of aggra
vated sexual battery. He was con
victed Friday afternoon on all six
counts.
Superior Court Judge Kathlene
Gosselin sentenced Wallace to a total
sentence of life plus 20 years with
the first 30 years in prison. Wallace
will receive credit for time served
since Oct. 15,2021 plus another year
of pre-trial detention, and Gosselin
allowed for the remainder of the
sentence to be served on probation.
Hall County Sheriff’s Office detec
tives began investigating the case in
September 2019, when family mem
bers of a 4-year-old girl reported she
was sexually abused at a Hall County
residence.
During that investigation, detec
tives determined Wallace also
molested a second girl, who was
6 at the time, in 2013 at the same
residence, according to the Sheriff’s
Office.
Wallace and the girls knew each
other.
The jury took the case about 9 a.m.
Friday after hearing evidence since
Tuesday, Feb. 21 before Gosselin.
During the sentencing phase,
Assistant District Attorney Harold
Buckler asked for life in prison to
reflect the amount of damage he’s
done.
“When one molests a child, it
will always be a part of that child’s
life. Even as the two victims in this
case recover, our hearts are with
them,” Northeastern Judicial Cir
cuit District Attorney Lee Darragh
said in a statement. “The punish
ment imposed is punishment well
deserved for the now convicted Wal
lace. The verdict of the jury was just
and appreciated.”
Buckler prosecuted the case along
with Assistant District Attorney
Rachel Bennett.
Wallace will also face the special
sex offender conditions of probation.
Defense attorney Chris van Ros-
sem, who represented Wallace
along with co-counsel Chloe Owens,
declined to comment.
Wallace was indicted in a separate
case Jan. 25 involving a third young
girl on charges of aggravated child
molestation and child molestation.
Citing the pending nature of the
case, Darragh declined to discuss
the newest charges for Wallace.
Wallace
Hall school board OKs S11M for big touchscreens in classrooms
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Editor’s note: This published in
a previous E-Paper edition and is
being provided here for print-only
readers.
The Hall County school board on
Monday approved $11.08 million
in funding to replace projectors in
all schools with interactive touch
screen panels over the next three
years.
“It is necessary,” Superinten
dent Will Schofield told the board,
explaining that the projectors have
reached the end of their lifespans.
He said all classrooms will get a
fresh coat of paint as well.
The 86-inch panels will be pur
chased from Clear Touch, a com
pany that specializes in creating
interactive technology for schools
and universities.
Aaron Turpin, assistant super
intendent of technology, said the
schools with the most faulty projec
tors will get panels first.
Turpin explained the decision to
purchase the panels now, saying,
“The price has come down to the
point where they’re a better return
on investment than projectors.”
The project will be completed
in five phases over the next three
years.
Phase one, June to September
2023
■ C.W. Davis Middle School
■ Academies of Discovery at
South Hall
■ Mount Vernon Exploratory
School
■ Spout Springs School of
Enrichment
■ East Hall Middle
Phase two, September to
December 2023
■ Chestatee High
■ Flowery Branch High
■ Johnson High
■ North Hall High
■ West Hall High
Phase three, January to April
2024
■ East Hall High
■ Chestatee Middle
■ North Hall Middle
■ West Hall Middle
Phase four, June to December
2024
■ Chestnut Mountain Creative
School of Inquiry
■ Chicopee Woods Elementary
■ Flowery Branch Elementary
■ Lyman Hall Elementary
■ Martin Technology Academy
■ Sardis Enrichment School
■ Sugar Hill Academy of Talent
& Career
■ Wauka Mountain Multiple
Intelligences Academy
Phase five, January to July 2025
■ Cherokee Bluff High School
■ Howard E. Ivester Early
College
■ Friendship Elementary
■ Lanier School for Inquiry,
Investigation & Innovation
■ Lula Elementary
■ Myers Elementary
■ Tadmore Elementary
■ World Language Academy
