Ga. Supreme Court adopts new kidnapping standards

Georgia's top court adopted a new legal standard for kidnapping, ruling that prosecutors must consider four factors before deciding to pursue kidnapping charges.

The Georgia Supreme Court's 4-3 decision Monday requires prosecutors to consider how far the victim was taken and whether the movement endangered the victim.

It also says authorities should weigh whether the movement occurred during the commission of a separate crime and whether it was a key part of that second crime.

The new standards came as part of an 18-page ruling that threw out kidnapping charges against Joey Allen Garza of Lee County. The court upheld his convictions for false imprisonment and aggravated assault.

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(AP)

Report: Third kidnapping victim comes forward

A third woman now says a man posing as a taxi driver abducted her in northeast Georgia. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports the University of Georgia student says she was taken by a man in a white van who offered to take her home. The incident reportedly happened in May. Two other women have come forward claiming a man in a white van abducted them in September at a UGA football game. One of the women says the man sexually assaulted her. Athens-Clarke County police say they have made no arrests.

Female students at the University of Georgia are signing up for self-defense classes in droves. The executive director of Safe Campuses Now says one self-defense class filled up in four hours last week after an e-mail went out to students. Athens-Clarke County police are asking taxi drivers in downtown Athens to keep an eye out for a man driving a white unmarked van.

Kidnapping suspect still on the loose

A second University of Georgia student says she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Oglethorpe County. Police say the woman accepted a ride from the suspect on September 8th, who was acting as a taxi driver. She later escaped. This is the second reported abduction from the weekend of the Georgia-South Carolina football game in Athens. The suspect is still on the loose.