[email protected]
(404) 523-4611
SAVANNAH OFFICE
1111 BULL STREET
SAVANNAH, GA 31401
FAX (866) 461-1942
e-mail Attorney Rodney Zell
(404) 523-4611
SAVANNAH OFFICE
1111 BULL STREET
SAVANNAH, GA 31401
FAX (866) 461-1942
e-mail Attorney Rodney Zell
We no longer book online appointments due to several issues we have no control over. Please keep in mind that attorneys cannot call inmates on an inmate's cell phone, as they are illegal contraband.
Attorney Rodney Zell has been a lawyer since June 9, 1992. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Mercer University School of Law. He primarily focuses on post conviction matters and criminal defense. Post conviction involves cases in which a person has been convicted of a crime and seeks to reduce his/her sentence, overturn his/her conviction, or obtain a new trial.
After having an office in Atlanta since 1992, I have decided I no longer need one in Atlanta. Most of my practice is reprinting Georgia prison inmates in Habeas Corpus and appeals in state and federal courts. When I started, I used to drive thousands of miles around the state going to court and then back to Atlanta to my office. Most prisons are in the southern part of the state, so being in Atlanta required more travel. During the pandemic, courts decided transferring inmates for court was not necessary, so Webex and Zoom are now the primary methods of court for Habeas Corpus. For appeals, I used to hand deliver them to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. My office was always close to all three. Now, all three require online filing.
I still have two offices. I have the office on Bull Street, and I have a private office where I can work without interruptions. The reason for the private office is that my clients sometimes complain that they hired a previous attorney only to later discover that less experienced attorneys did most of the work. I do 100% of my case reviews, research, and brief writing, so I need a lot of undisturbed office time.
PHONE POLICY: This is the greatest source of concern I have with clients and their family members. Over the years, I have found that clients and family members do not want to speak with secretaries or assistants. They want to speak with the person handling the case. The office number has been with this firm for approximately 50 years starting with the original partner, my father Glenn Zell. Unfortunately, with the number of cell phones possessed by prison inmates, the office receives hundreds of calls per month from various unknown prison inmates. I handle this by creating an account with phone numbers for clients and their families, so that their phone numbers are "recognized" by our system and then forwarded to my cell phone. Since the office number is not a cell phone, you cannot text to it. Only callers that leave a voicemail are returned.
I still have two offices. I have the office on Bull Street, and I have a private office where I can work without interruptions. The reason for the private office is that my clients sometimes complain that they hired a previous attorney only to later discover that less experienced attorneys did most of the work. I do 100% of my case reviews, research, and brief writing, so I need a lot of undisturbed office time.
PHONE POLICY: This is the greatest source of concern I have with clients and their family members. Over the years, I have found that clients and family members do not want to speak with secretaries or assistants. They want to speak with the person handling the case. The office number has been with this firm for approximately 50 years starting with the original partner, my father Glenn Zell. Unfortunately, with the number of cell phones possessed by prison inmates, the office receives hundreds of calls per month from various unknown prison inmates. I handle this by creating an account with phone numbers for clients and their families, so that their phone numbers are "recognized" by our system and then forwarded to my cell phone. Since the office number is not a cell phone, you cannot text to it. Only callers that leave a voicemail are returned.
RECENT NEWS!!!
On August 25, 2023, a defendant from a rape conviction in Colquitt County walked out of prison on a bond granted after the grant of an Extraordinary Motion for New Trial. This was the first breath of free air in over 20 years. A few days later, the trial granted the State's motion to dismiss the case clearing this Defendant for the first time since he was first arrested for this case way back in 1993!
In July, 2023, a Carroll County judge granted a motion to withdraw a guilty plea entered to several counts of aggravated assault on police officers.
On June 4, 2022, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed with Attorney Zell that the Defendant's former trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress the search of a vehicle after a traffic stop that resulted in a drug trafficking conviction in Pierce County. Since the Court of Appeals ruled that the drugs should have been suppressed, the charges had to be dismissed, and the Defendant could not be re-tried.
In November, 2022, a Cobb County judge granted a motion to modify a sentence reducing a non-parolearble sentence from 30 years to 20 years.
After being sentenced to prison for a felony D.U.I. in Appling County, the motion for new trial was granted in March, 2022, and a plea deal entered for misdemeanor public drunkenness.
2 for 2! One day after winning in the Georgia Supreme Court after certiorari had been granted related to the dismissal of an appeal after an armed robbery conviction had been granted in a motion for new trial in Fayette County, a Forsyth County judge granted the habeas corpus for a client who pled guilty to several counts of aggravated stalking.
On May 17, 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Attorney Zell whose client had been convicted in 2012 of a 1995 murder in Cobb County. The Petitioner had numerous lawyers during his case finally representing himself for trial and appeal. After filing numerous appeals, the Supreme Court banned the state prisoner from filing any further appeals without special permission. The inmate represented himself in his state habeas raising 438 grounds. Attorney Zell then took over for the habeas appeal process focusing on one ground. After the Supreme Court informed Zell that he also would need special permission to file an appeal on behalf of his new client, he not only sought but received that permission after which the Supreme Court granted the state habeas appeal called a Certificate of Probable Cause. The case went back to Tattnall County, Georgia for further habeas proceedings. After going back to the Georgia Supreme Court at the request of both the Attorney General and Zell, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Zell.
In, June, 2021, after two appeals in the Georgia Court of Appeals and one in the Georgia Supreme Court, a client had his sentence on two aggravated battery charges vacated reducing his prison sentence by 10 years.
In March, 2021, a DeKalb County judge agreed with Attorney Zell and reduced a 10 years in prison sentence for aggravated assault and terroristic threats to 5 years and changed it from consecutive to a probation revocation to concurrent.
On January 8, 2019, I was there when a client I have been representing for most of his imprisonment walked out of prison after 18 years as a free man. His extraordinary motion for new trial was granted, his conviction was vacated and dismissed! When I first read the trial transcript, I could not believe a person could be imprisoned based on the evidence presented. I kept trying different actions to get justice. I filed numerous open records requests before the G.B.I., in 2018, found misplaced records that led to new DNA results exonerating my client. Links to the story above:
On May 17, 2019, Attorney Zell learned he won a habeas on behalf of his client in Hancock County. The habeas court did not notify any of the parties but the habeas judge did sign the proposed order prepared by Attorney Zell.
On February 18, 2019, a Gwinnett County judge granted a habeas corpus overturning two armed robbery convictions obtained after the defendant had pled guilty in Fulton County.
On December 10, 2018, Attorney Zell won his 14th case in the Georgia Supreme Court when the Court ruled that a habeas petitioner had not waived his right when he was sentenced to file a habeas corpus.
On December 7, 2018, the Stephens County District Attorneys Office agreed to a sentence modification after a motion for new trial was heard. The original sentence was 25 years to serve without parole. The new sentence offered was 10 years with parole.
On October 4, 2018, a judge in Fayette County granted a motion for. new trial as to kidnapping with bodily injury and both armed robbery convictions, which would have required the defendant to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. This case was featured on the ID channel on November 2, 2017. The case was the on the series, "Home Alone" in an episode titled "Inheriting Evil." For Xfinity tv customers, the show can be watched on demand. A link to the ID channel episode can be found here:
In February, 2018, in Bartow County, in a multiple trafficking indictment, the State worried that a motion for new trial would be granted, agreed to a sentence modification from 25 years in prison to 15.
On September 26, 2017, a Ware County judge granted client's habeas corpus finding that trial and appellate counsel were ineffective regarding misadvising my client on the possible sentence he was facing if convicted at trial.
On January 23, 2017, a Fayette County Judge sentenced a client to misdemeanor probation after the client had been indicted for four felony counts including the vehicular manslaughter of a six-year old child and three counts of serious injury by vehicle involving children. A lab test had revealed the presence of marijuana in the client's blood.
On December 31, 2016, a judge in the Fulton County Superior Court granted a motion for new trial overturning a life without parole sentence based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
On September 6, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia granted a Certificate of Probable Cause from a habeas corpus appeal out of Jenkins County.
On August 30, 2016, a judge on the Bibb County Superior Court granted a habeas corpus filed by Attorney Zell.
On July 13, 2016, Attorney Zell reversed an attempted bank robbery conviction in the Georgia Court of Appeals making this the third win out of the last five direct appeals for Attorney Zell with one victory in each of the three appellate courts located in Georgia.
Attorney Rodney Zell has a case featured in the June, 2016 issue of Playboy Magazine and Mr. Zell is referenced in the article. This is a very interesting article on DNA, which Fox 5 Atlanta had previously done a two-part report. For those of you not wanting to buy the magazine, the article can be found online here: PLAYBOY ARTICLE.
On May 24, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed the federal district grant's order dismissing my petition for habeas corpus. The case is published, and you can read the case by clicking the 11th Circuit link above. The case will help a lot of prisoners who may have previously been time-barred from filing federal petitions, as it extends the time to file a federal petition by adding the time it takes the Georgia Supreme Court to issue its remittitur.
The Fulton County Daily Report did a front page article on the habeas case from Habersham County. A link to the article can be found here: DAILY REPORT ARTICLE.
On February 1, 2016, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the grant of a habeas corpus from Habersham County involving a 15-year old girl who was convicted of shooting her father in the back of the head. My client confessed to the police in 1995 and has been incarcerated more than half her life. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the superior court's decision to overturn her near 20-year old murder conviction. On March 7, 2016, the Supreme Court issued a substitute opinion but still upheld the grant of the habeas corpus. A copy of the Georgia Supreme Court decision can be found by clicking the Georgia Supreme Court link above.
On January 13, 2016, Judge Clarence Blount granted a habeas corpus for my client who was convicted of various charges, including murder. My client was convicted in 1998 of killing the father of his ex-girlfriend in Clayton County, Georgia. He has been incarcerated since the shooting in 1997.
On December 31, 2015, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted a rare Certificate of Appealability to determine whether there was prosecutorial misconduct. My client's co-defendant testified at trial that her plea bargain that required prison. However, after the trial she was sentenced to probation.
On October 27, 2015, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a rare Certificate of Appealability to decide an issue that could effect many other federal habeas petitioners. The issue involves a determination of what time counts in determining whether the statute of limitations applies.
On October 9, 2013, a client was re-sentenced to time served after a winning a habeas corpus in both the superior court and the Supreme Court. The client had already served 16 years in prison on a life sentence. His life sentence was overturned leaving two charges that could have resulted in a 25-year sentence. The State originally wanted a 25 year sentence. After presenting evidence and argument, the trial court did what I requested and sentenced my client to time served.
On October 7, 2013, the State dismissed a cocaine trafficking case that was set to start trial that morning. The State previously asked for the mandatory minimum of 10 years to serve. I advised my client to decline. At the calendar call, the State offered probation. Despite the risk of a 10 year mandatory minimum prison sentence if my client lost a trial, my client declined the offer of probation. This was a smart decision, as the State decided not to waste a week of court time once they realized we were not going to cave in to pressure.
In 2015, I was able to obtain a complete dismissal of charges from a 1986 case and then litigated issues involving my client's record that allowed my client to obtain his firearm's license.
On July 16, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed all felony convictions for two brothers convicted as recidivists in Fulton County. One brother was sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole, and the other brother was sentenced to 12 years in prison without parole. The appellate decision reversed the trial court's denial of a motion to suppress a search warrant to place a GPS tracking device on one of the brothers' cars. In finding the stop of their vehicle unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals found that without the evidence seized in the stop, there was insufficient evidence to conviction the brothers. Therefore, they cannot be re-tried.
On July 1, 2013, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the grant of a habeas corpus from Gwinnett County in which a state prisoner had been sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping. The Supreme Court agreed that the State had not sufficiently proved the elements of kidnapping reversing the life sentence imposed. The prisoner now becomes immediately eligible for parole.
On May 29, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals granted the appeal of a prisoner who had been sentenced in Richmond County to life in prison without parole. The Court of Appeals unanimously held that the the prosecutor did not prove the defendant was a recidivist.
On March 14, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the grant of the forfeiture of money alleged to be the product of a drug transaction.
On December 12, 2012, a DeKalb County Judge ordered the return of all money and guns seized from my client after the Judge ruled that the police illegally entered onto my client's property with the use of a K-9 drug detection dog. Of course, all criminal charges against my client were dismissed.
On November 14, 2013, a Fulton County Judge granted a motion for new trial in favor of my client who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, for his co-defendant, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the co-defendant's murder conviction. His attorney then raised the same issue, as my client, and the Georgia Supreme Court, in the co-defendnat's second appeal, said it was tool late and reinstated his conviction a second time. The district attorney's office decided not to appeal my client's case believing it had no chance to win. I then obtained a bond for my client who had been incarcerated for several years.
On November 15, 2012, a Forsyth County jury returned 31 not guilty verdicts in favor of the Defendant who was accused of stealing several hundred thousand dollars worth of telecommunications equipment from his employer. Against an undefeated prosecutor, we listened to the judge say "NOT GUILTY" 31 times!
Click below for a look at the verdict.
VERDICT
In July, 2023, a Carroll County judge granted a motion to withdraw a guilty plea entered to several counts of aggravated assault on police officers.
On June 4, 2022, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed with Attorney Zell that the Defendant's former trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress the search of a vehicle after a traffic stop that resulted in a drug trafficking conviction in Pierce County. Since the Court of Appeals ruled that the drugs should have been suppressed, the charges had to be dismissed, and the Defendant could not be re-tried.
In November, 2022, a Cobb County judge granted a motion to modify a sentence reducing a non-parolearble sentence from 30 years to 20 years.
After being sentenced to prison for a felony D.U.I. in Appling County, the motion for new trial was granted in March, 2022, and a plea deal entered for misdemeanor public drunkenness.
2 for 2! One day after winning in the Georgia Supreme Court after certiorari had been granted related to the dismissal of an appeal after an armed robbery conviction had been granted in a motion for new trial in Fayette County, a Forsyth County judge granted the habeas corpus for a client who pled guilty to several counts of aggravated stalking.
On May 17, 2021, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Attorney Zell whose client had been convicted in 2012 of a 1995 murder in Cobb County. The Petitioner had numerous lawyers during his case finally representing himself for trial and appeal. After filing numerous appeals, the Supreme Court banned the state prisoner from filing any further appeals without special permission. The inmate represented himself in his state habeas raising 438 grounds. Attorney Zell then took over for the habeas appeal process focusing on one ground. After the Supreme Court informed Zell that he also would need special permission to file an appeal on behalf of his new client, he not only sought but received that permission after which the Supreme Court granted the state habeas appeal called a Certificate of Probable Cause. The case went back to Tattnall County, Georgia for further habeas proceedings. After going back to the Georgia Supreme Court at the request of both the Attorney General and Zell, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Zell.
In, June, 2021, after two appeals in the Georgia Court of Appeals and one in the Georgia Supreme Court, a client had his sentence on two aggravated battery charges vacated reducing his prison sentence by 10 years.
In March, 2021, a DeKalb County judge agreed with Attorney Zell and reduced a 10 years in prison sentence for aggravated assault and terroristic threats to 5 years and changed it from consecutive to a probation revocation to concurrent.
On January 8, 2019, I was there when a client I have been representing for most of his imprisonment walked out of prison after 18 years as a free man. His extraordinary motion for new trial was granted, his conviction was vacated and dismissed! When I first read the trial transcript, I could not believe a person could be imprisoned based on the evidence presented. I kept trying different actions to get justice. I filed numerous open records requests before the G.B.I., in 2018, found misplaced records that led to new DNA results exonerating my client. Links to the story above:
On May 17, 2019, Attorney Zell learned he won a habeas on behalf of his client in Hancock County. The habeas court did not notify any of the parties but the habeas judge did sign the proposed order prepared by Attorney Zell.
On February 18, 2019, a Gwinnett County judge granted a habeas corpus overturning two armed robbery convictions obtained after the defendant had pled guilty in Fulton County.
On December 10, 2018, Attorney Zell won his 14th case in the Georgia Supreme Court when the Court ruled that a habeas petitioner had not waived his right when he was sentenced to file a habeas corpus.
On December 7, 2018, the Stephens County District Attorneys Office agreed to a sentence modification after a motion for new trial was heard. The original sentence was 25 years to serve without parole. The new sentence offered was 10 years with parole.
On October 4, 2018, a judge in Fayette County granted a motion for. new trial as to kidnapping with bodily injury and both armed robbery convictions, which would have required the defendant to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison. This case was featured on the ID channel on November 2, 2017. The case was the on the series, "Home Alone" in an episode titled "Inheriting Evil." For Xfinity tv customers, the show can be watched on demand. A link to the ID channel episode can be found here:
In February, 2018, in Bartow County, in a multiple trafficking indictment, the State worried that a motion for new trial would be granted, agreed to a sentence modification from 25 years in prison to 15.
On September 26, 2017, a Ware County judge granted client's habeas corpus finding that trial and appellate counsel were ineffective regarding misadvising my client on the possible sentence he was facing if convicted at trial.
On January 23, 2017, a Fayette County Judge sentenced a client to misdemeanor probation after the client had been indicted for four felony counts including the vehicular manslaughter of a six-year old child and three counts of serious injury by vehicle involving children. A lab test had revealed the presence of marijuana in the client's blood.
On December 31, 2016, a judge in the Fulton County Superior Court granted a motion for new trial overturning a life without parole sentence based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel.
On September 6, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia granted a Certificate of Probable Cause from a habeas corpus appeal out of Jenkins County.
On August 30, 2016, a judge on the Bibb County Superior Court granted a habeas corpus filed by Attorney Zell.
On July 13, 2016, Attorney Zell reversed an attempted bank robbery conviction in the Georgia Court of Appeals making this the third win out of the last five direct appeals for Attorney Zell with one victory in each of the three appellate courts located in Georgia.
Attorney Rodney Zell has a case featured in the June, 2016 issue of Playboy Magazine and Mr. Zell is referenced in the article. This is a very interesting article on DNA, which Fox 5 Atlanta had previously done a two-part report. For those of you not wanting to buy the magazine, the article can be found online here: PLAYBOY ARTICLE.
On May 24, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed the federal district grant's order dismissing my petition for habeas corpus. The case is published, and you can read the case by clicking the 11th Circuit link above. The case will help a lot of prisoners who may have previously been time-barred from filing federal petitions, as it extends the time to file a federal petition by adding the time it takes the Georgia Supreme Court to issue its remittitur.
The Fulton County Daily Report did a front page article on the habeas case from Habersham County. A link to the article can be found here: DAILY REPORT ARTICLE.
On February 1, 2016, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the grant of a habeas corpus from Habersham County involving a 15-year old girl who was convicted of shooting her father in the back of the head. My client confessed to the police in 1995 and has been incarcerated more than half her life. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the superior court's decision to overturn her near 20-year old murder conviction. On March 7, 2016, the Supreme Court issued a substitute opinion but still upheld the grant of the habeas corpus. A copy of the Georgia Supreme Court decision can be found by clicking the Georgia Supreme Court link above.
On January 13, 2016, Judge Clarence Blount granted a habeas corpus for my client who was convicted of various charges, including murder. My client was convicted in 1998 of killing the father of his ex-girlfriend in Clayton County, Georgia. He has been incarcerated since the shooting in 1997.
On December 31, 2015, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted a rare Certificate of Appealability to determine whether there was prosecutorial misconduct. My client's co-defendant testified at trial that her plea bargain that required prison. However, after the trial she was sentenced to probation.
On October 27, 2015, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a rare Certificate of Appealability to decide an issue that could effect many other federal habeas petitioners. The issue involves a determination of what time counts in determining whether the statute of limitations applies.
On October 9, 2013, a client was re-sentenced to time served after a winning a habeas corpus in both the superior court and the Supreme Court. The client had already served 16 years in prison on a life sentence. His life sentence was overturned leaving two charges that could have resulted in a 25-year sentence. The State originally wanted a 25 year sentence. After presenting evidence and argument, the trial court did what I requested and sentenced my client to time served.
On October 7, 2013, the State dismissed a cocaine trafficking case that was set to start trial that morning. The State previously asked for the mandatory minimum of 10 years to serve. I advised my client to decline. At the calendar call, the State offered probation. Despite the risk of a 10 year mandatory minimum prison sentence if my client lost a trial, my client declined the offer of probation. This was a smart decision, as the State decided not to waste a week of court time once they realized we were not going to cave in to pressure.
In 2015, I was able to obtain a complete dismissal of charges from a 1986 case and then litigated issues involving my client's record that allowed my client to obtain his firearm's license.
On July 16, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed all felony convictions for two brothers convicted as recidivists in Fulton County. One brother was sentenced to 20 years in prison without parole, and the other brother was sentenced to 12 years in prison without parole. The appellate decision reversed the trial court's denial of a motion to suppress a search warrant to place a GPS tracking device on one of the brothers' cars. In finding the stop of their vehicle unconstitutional, the Court of Appeals found that without the evidence seized in the stop, there was insufficient evidence to conviction the brothers. Therefore, they cannot be re-tried.
On July 1, 2013, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the grant of a habeas corpus from Gwinnett County in which a state prisoner had been sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping. The Supreme Court agreed that the State had not sufficiently proved the elements of kidnapping reversing the life sentence imposed. The prisoner now becomes immediately eligible for parole.
On May 29, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals granted the appeal of a prisoner who had been sentenced in Richmond County to life in prison without parole. The Court of Appeals unanimously held that the the prosecutor did not prove the defendant was a recidivist.
On March 14, 2013, the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the grant of the forfeiture of money alleged to be the product of a drug transaction.
On December 12, 2012, a DeKalb County Judge ordered the return of all money and guns seized from my client after the Judge ruled that the police illegally entered onto my client's property with the use of a K-9 drug detection dog. Of course, all criminal charges against my client were dismissed.
On November 14, 2013, a Fulton County Judge granted a motion for new trial in favor of my client who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, for his co-defendant, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the co-defendant's murder conviction. His attorney then raised the same issue, as my client, and the Georgia Supreme Court, in the co-defendnat's second appeal, said it was tool late and reinstated his conviction a second time. The district attorney's office decided not to appeal my client's case believing it had no chance to win. I then obtained a bond for my client who had been incarcerated for several years.
On November 15, 2012, a Forsyth County jury returned 31 not guilty verdicts in favor of the Defendant who was accused of stealing several hundred thousand dollars worth of telecommunications equipment from his employer. Against an undefeated prosecutor, we listened to the judge say "NOT GUILTY" 31 times!
Click below for a look at the verdict.
VERDICT
