The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the murder conviction of a lawyer sentenced to life in prison in the death of a man he ran over during a heated argument over a golf ball.
The court overturned Bryan Keith Schmitt’s 2022 conviction, ruling the Fulton County judge presiding over the case should have instructed the jury on what constitutes an “accident” under the law.
Schmitt, who testified in his own defense at trial, said he never meant to hit Hamid Jahangard with his Mercedes as the two argued on the side of a busy Sandy Springs road.
Schmitt was driving home from work July 30, 2019, when he said he heard something slam into the front of his sedan on River Valley Road.
Investigators said they believe Jahangard lost control of a golf ball he was bouncing as he talked on the phone in a driveway, causing it to bounce into the street and hit Schmitt’s sedan as he drove past.
Schmitt turned around, came back and confronted Jahangard. The two exchanged words but Schmitt said he never meant to hit the man as he turned his wheel sharply to the left and accelerated into the driveway.
Schmitt told the jury he wanted to pull in next to Jahangard and “sort out what had happened,” but underestimated the turning radius of his Mercedes.
“I see it in my head every day,” an emotional Schmitt said on the stand. “It’s a mistake that I have struggled with for three years.”
Prosecutors contended he purposely rammed the 60-year-old in a fit of rage, causing the skull fractures that resulted in Jahangard’s death days later.
H.M. Patterson & Son-Arlington Chapel obituary
H.M. Patterson & Son-Arlington Chapel obituary
The fatal collision was captured on two cameras, a surveillance system from a nearby house and a camera mounted to the dashboard of a passing HVAC truck.
Video showed Schmitt quickly hopping out of his car and trying to help the injured Jahangard, who was bleeding from his ears after striking his head on the concrete. Schmitt, who received medical training during his time in the U.S. Army, said he placed Jahangard on his back and stabilized his head as he waited for help.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Pat Dutcher honed in on erroneous statements Schmitt made to bystanders and first responders at the scene. Schmitt initially told investigators Jahangard had thrown one of the trashcans in front of his car and that he swerved to avoid it, striking the widowed real estate investor and father of two.
Schmitt called what happened a “tragic accident,” a mistake he wishes he had never made.
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Schmitt previously worked as a corporate attorney for a software development company but was suspended by the State Bar of Georgia pending the appeal of his murder conviction.
The jury deliberated more than six hours over two days before convicting Schmitt on all five counts he faced: malice murder, two counts of felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Prior to deliberations, Schmitt’s attorneys asked Judge Melynee Leftridge to instruct the jury about the legal definition of accident. She initially said she would but later changed her mind and decided not to give the instruction.
She also told the jury to disregard “accident” as a key legal principle in the case even though Schmitt testified he never meant to hit anyone.
Writing for the court, Presiding Justice Nels Peterson said because the judge declined to give the accident instruction on the counts of felony murder and aggravated assault, the verdicts on those counts cannot stand.
“ ... Schmitt’s testimony that the collision was an accident presented at least slight evidence necessary to warrant an instruction on the defense of accident,” Peterson wrote.
A spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors “will be retrying the case as soon as possible.”
Jahangard’s sister, Roya Jahangard, said her family was shocked to learn that Schmitt’s conviction was reversed but said they are optimistic that a different jury would return the same verdict.
Schmitt is still in custody, but his attorney, Don Samuel, said he would likely be transferred back to the Fulton County Jail. From there, he can request bond as he awaits a second trial.
“The unanimous Supreme Court decision reversing the conviction was a welcome relief and we look forward to Bryan’s ultimate exoneration,” Samuel said.
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