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Let me tell you about Byron Walker (Walker v. State, No. S25G1183 (Ga. June 30, 2026)

In 2021, Walker’s estranged wife got a temporary protective order (TPO) against him. The order kicked him out of the house the couple shared in Loganville, gave her sole use of it, and ordered him to stay away. Less than three months later, prosecutors say he showed up there anyway and contacted her, in violation of that order, “for the purpose of harassing and intimidating” her. He was indicted for aggravated stalking, and a jury convicted him.

Should be an open-and-shut case, right? Not so fast. Walker’s conviction just got thrown out by the Georgia Supreme Court — not because of anything that went wrong at trial, but because of a handful of words the prosecutor left out of the indictment. Here’s what happened, and why it matters if you’re ever charged with aggravated stalking in Georgia.

What the Aggravated Stalking Statute Actually Requires

Under OCGA § 16-5-91, a person commits aggravated stalking when, in violation of a protective order (or similar court order), he “contacts another person at or about a place or places without the consent of the other person for the purpose of harassing and intimidating” them.

That phrase — “place or places” — sounds like throwaway language. It’s not. The statute that defines plain stalking, OCGA § 16-5-90, spells out exactly what “place or places” means: “any public or private property occupied by the victim other than the residence of the defendant.”

Read that again. The place has to be somewhere other than the defendant’s own residence. If the “contact” happens at the defendant’s own home, it doesn’t satisfy this element — at least not on its face.

The Indictment Problem

Here’s where the State ran into trouble. Walker’s indictment charged him with contacting his wife “at or about 3419 Pleasant View Court, Loganville” — the address of the house he’d been ordered to leave. It never said, in so many words, that this address was no longer his residence.

After the verdict, Walker’s new lawyer filed a motion in arrest of judgment, arguing the indictment was legally defective because it never alleged that piece of the crime — that the place of contact was somewhere other than his own residence.

The trial court agreed and tossed the conviction. The Court of Appeals reversed and reinstated it, holding the indictment tracked the statute closely enough. The case went up to the Georgia Supreme Court, which sided with Walker: the “place or places” language, including its definition excluding the defendant’s own residence, is an essential element of the crime — not just a defense the defendant has to raise on his own. And because the indictment never alleged that element, and never alleged facts that made clear the address wasn’t Walker’s residence, the indictment was void. Conviction reversed.

Why This Isn’t Just a Technicality

I know what you’re thinking: he clearly wasn’t supposed to be there — there was a court order kicking him out. Doesn’t that basically prove it? The dissenting justice thought so too, arguing the flaw should have been treated as harmless given how strong the trial evidence was.

The majority didn’t budge. Under Georgia law, an indictment has to stand on its own. When someone challenges an indictment for failing to allege an essential element of the crime, the question isn’t “did the jury hear enough evidence to convict anyway.” The question is whether the defendant could admit every single fact written in the indictment and still walk away innocent. Here, Walker could have admitted every word of that indictment — that he contacted her at that address, in violation of the order, to harass her — and technically still not be guilty of aggravated stalking, because nothing in the indictment itself ruled out the address still being his residence.

That’s not a loophole. That’s due process. An indictment is supposed to lay out, on its face, every element the grand jury found probable cause to believe happened. If it doesn’t, the conviction can’t stand, no matter how strong the trial evidence turns out to be.

What This Means Going Forward

For prosecutors, this case is a warning: when charging aggravated stalking, the indictment needs to specifically allege that the contact happened somewhere other than the defendant’s own residence, not just list an address and assume everyone will connect the dots.

For anyone facing an aggravated stalking charge, this case is a reminder of something I tell clients constantly: the fight isn’t only about what happened. It’s also about whether the State’s paperwork is legally sound. A defective indictment can be challenged before trial, during trial, or, as Walker’s case shows, even after a guilty verdict, through a motion in arrest of judgment. Most people never learn that tool exists until it’s too late to use it.

The Takeaway

Aggravated stalking is a serious felony in Georgia, and the State has to prove every single element of it, including where the alleged contact happened. If you or someone you know has been charged with, or convicted of, aggravated stalking, how the case was charged matters just as much as what actually happened. Sloppy paperwork can be a defense all by itself.

If you’re facing an aggravated stalking charge in Georgia, don’t wait until trial to start picking apart the case against you. Give my office a call.

Case discussed: Walker v. State, No. S25G1183 (Ga. June 30, 2026)